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Eight teachers who were appointed as examiners will be punished for handing over Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) question papers to students after photos of them began circulating on social media like Facebook and TikTok.
The teachers were in charge of evaluating the SSC and HSC exam papers of the Dhaka Secondary and Higher Education Board.
The board says that the teachers ran a ring that allowed students to cheat on the public exam, and the pictures of the scripts circulating on social media have created discontent among the examinees, according to a bdnews24.com report.
Dhaka board Examination Controller SM Kamal Uddin Haider said on Monday morning, "Those examiners made students fill in the notebooks they received for evaluation and photos of them went viral on Facebook and TikTok. After verification, the accused examiners have been identified, and a show cause notice has been issued. A final decision on their punishment will be taken after we receive responses to the show cause notice.
"For allowing students to fill out the answer sheets and spreading the pictures, they may be banned from assessing public exam answers for life, barred from board and public examination-related work for life, or even dismissed from their institution. They can be punished with imprisonment for up to two years, have to pay a fine, or both."
Among the accused teachers are Madhuchanda Lipi, a teacher at Baroicha College in Narsingdi and examiner of the HSC Bengali first paper; Md Zakir Hossain, a teacher at Haji Yunus Ali College in Savar and examiner of the HSC Bengali second paper; Rakibul Hasan, a teacher at Bhasha Shaheed Abdul Jabbar Ansar VDP School and College in Gazipur and examiner of the Baroicha College; Mursana Akhter, a teacher at Rokeya Ahsan College in Demra and examiner of the HSC English second paper.
They also include Abu Bakr Siddique, assistant headmaster of Munshinagar High School in Nawabganj and SSC examiner for Mathematics; Sameermoy Mondal, a teacher at Rajbari Government Girls High School and SSC examiner for Mathematics; Md Sakhawat Hossain Akon, a teacher at Jatrabari Ideal School and College teacher and SSC examiner for Islam and Moral Education, and Mohsin Al Amin, St Joseph's High School and College teacher and SSC examiner for Higher Mathematics.
The Dhaka board sent show cause notices to the eight accused teachers on Sunday, seeking an explanation for the incident.
The board says that these teachers made students fill out the exam papers, and photos or still images of them were circulated on social media. This has created discontent among students and tarnished the image of the board, it said.
The accused teachers have been asked to respond to the show cause notice to the board's examination controller within five working days, explaining reasons why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.
On Thursday, SSC examinees came to protest at the Dhaka board and complained that SSC exam papers had been circulating “on TikTok”.
Taking note of this allegation, the Dhaka board sent a letter to all examiners and chief examiners on Saturday, warning them.