Education boards ‘not even thinking’ about postponing SSC exams

Amid calls to postpone the SSC and equivalent exams, the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee president Prof Khondokar Ehsanul Kabir has said postponing the tests was out of the question.

The SSC and equivalent exams will begin on Apr 10.

On Thursday, Ehsanul Kabir, also the chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, said all preparations for the exams had been completed, and all equipment delivered to each exam centre.

A section of the examinees sent a press release to several media outlets calling for a “non-cooperation movement” at the central Shaheed Minar, demanding a month's postponement of the SSC exams and a few days break before all exams.

Later in the afternoon, Kabir said: “We have heard about the students' movement to defer the exams somehow, but the truth could not be verified. We are not thinking about postponing the exams at the moment.

“It is very difficult to postpone the exams at the last moment. All examinees and guardians are advised to prepare for the exams set for from Apr 10.”

Although the examinees who did come to Shaheed Minar claimed that they were not ‘protesters’, one of them demanded that the exams be postponed.

The examinee said, “The gap between Eid and the July movement has affected our studies. Only seven days are left for the exam. People are still celebrating Eid.

“Many had to travel to their ancestral homes. How’re they supposed to prepare for exams after returning?

Claiming that the switch in the government also brought change in the curriculum, the student said: “We will face a huge change. Even after so many gaps, our exams are not being given in the abridged syllabus.”

This year’s SSC candidates, however, studied under the old curriculum for the ninth and tenth grades.

Less than a month after the interim government took office, the education ministry announced, in early September, that a fresh curriculum was “no longer feasible” and would have to “go back to the old one.”

At that time, ninth-grade students were studying under the new syllabus. This year, however, they resumed 10th grade with the old syllabus.

For the first time, they received new textbooks prepared according to the syllabus formulated in 2012.

These students are set to take the 2026 SSC and equivalent exams. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) published a short syllabus for them earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the demand to postpone the SSC and equivalent examinations has been termed as unreasonable by a guardians' organisation named Obhibhabok Oikyo Forum, meaning Parents Unity Forum.

In a media statement, it demanded the SSC and equivalent examinations be started on the scheduled date.

They said, “If the exam dates and routines are changed repeatedly, the candidates lose interest in taking the exam and as a result, their results are poor.

“We are withdrawing the so-called non-cooperation movement called by a few students with unacceptable and unreasonable demands to postpone the exam and are urging the candidates to return to their desks and concentrate on their studies.

“The SSC exam cannot be postponed in any way on such flimsy grounds.”

The parents previously demanded the SSC exam be held in February and the HSC exam in April, as per the previous schedule.

They said, “Since the current situation is conducive to education, efforts should be made to complete the syllabus quickly and ensure that all future SSC and HSC exams take place on time.

“We urge the education boards and the education ministry to ensure that no public exam is postponed again, except in the event of a natural disaster.”

The parents’ organisation also alleged that the education ministry has not taken any measures to make up for the shortfall despite the huge losses suffered by students during the COVID-19 pandemic and the July-August movement.