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Education Minister Dipu Moni has ruled out any scope for question paper leaks in the Secondary School Certificate and equivalent exams that started on Sunday.
“Some people may spread rumours about question paper leaks, but they will face strict punishment once they are caught,” the minister told the media after visiting the Badda High School exam centre in Dhaka, reports bdnews24.com.
The government has been constantly monitoring social media to prevent any rumour from spreading, she said. “Immediate steps were taken wherever we found any irregularities,” the minister said.
“Those who made a mistake last time paid the price for this. Therefore, we hope the teachers and others responsible at the exam centre will be vigilant to avoid any mistake,” Dipu Moni said.
More than two million students from 11 educational boards are sitting for SSC and equivalent exams at 3,818 centres in Bangladesh and abroad.
“We found all students arriving on time. The seating arrangement for them was good. The children seemed quite cheerful,” said Dipu Moni.
The minister said she was satisfied to see the overall exam environment. “The teachers are there and we saw the question code was brought on time. They followed everything accordingly.”
Prior to the pandemic, the SSC exams used to start in February. Last year's exams began on Sept 15, seven months behind schedule due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic and floods.
The government had previously said that the SSC exams this year will be held in April, two months later than the usual time, following the slowdown in the spread of COVID-19.
The 2023 SSC exam is being held under an amended syllabus with full marks. The exams returned to the conventional three-hour schedule.
When asked if the students would find it difficult to take the exam under an amended syllabus, Dipu Moni said the amendments were not applied to the entire book of a subject.
“The changes were on some specific topics. Since the exam system is different this year, the students will not find it difficult.”