Annual exam dates of grades one to four changed before general elections

Ahead of the general elections the government has decided to change the schedule for annual exams of grades one to four of primary schools across Bangladesh.

Therefore the tests will now be held from Nov 29 to Dec 6 instead of Dec 11 to 18, according to a notice published by the primary and mass education ministry on Thursday.

Copies of the notice have been sent to the director general of the Directorate of Primary Education and all primary education officials.

The government has not assigned any reason in the notice for the change of the schedule.

But a top official of the ministry, requesting anonymity, said that the schedule has been changed as the 11th parliamentary election can be held any time after mid-December.

He said the ministry decided to change the schedule after a discussion with the Election Commission, bdnews24 reported.

Earlier in the day, Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told the media that the schedule for the parliamentary elections will be announced in the first week of November.

The schools are used as polling stations during elections. Teachers are also assigned to election official roles during the time.