The government has taken all necessary steps to stop question paper leaks in Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said his while visiting Siddeswari Girls College centre on the first day of HSC examinations on Monday.
“New problems are arising every day. We have taken all possible preventive measures based on the information we have received so far,” he said.
Students have to enter the halls 30 minutes ahead of the exams, as part of the latest rule imposed by the government after question leaks in public exams turned endemic.
Teachers note down the name, roll number and registration number of any student entering the hall later than that. Their reasons for being late are also noted down.
Question sets are selected by lottery, 25 minutes before the tests. The centre secretary is informed about the question set via SMS. After that, question papers are taken out of a sealed packet.
No one except the acting officer can carry mobile phone and other electronic devices inside halls. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police has asked people (excluding examinees) to refrain from walking inside 200 yards radius of the centres while the exams are on.
“I hope that this time there would be no question leaks. In case it happens, we will penalise the perpetrators, whoever he is,” said Nahid as he visited the Siddeswari centre around 9:30am.
“We do not know how far the criminals can go. But it is highly unlikely to happen given our preventive measures.”
Questions of Secondary School Certificate or SSC leaked on the social media this year. Journalists collected the screenshots and handed them over to the authorities. The authorities were informed about different groups that published the questions on Facebook and other social media, reports bdnews24.com.
The exams that mark the completion of secondary education in schools in Bangladesh were taken despite the reports.
When asked why the Facebook pages and groups are not being closed, the minister said BRTC was aware of the matter. “Intelligence agencies are handling them. We do not know much.”
The education ministry announced that it would not let coaching centres operate during the HSC exams but that has not happened in reality, the reporters pointed out.
To this, Nahid said: “We are not the agency that is accountable for the task. Multiple ministries are involved here. The home minister is responsible for implementing the law and arresting the criminals.”
Over debates on multiple-choice questions, Nahid said: “We must take into account the opinions of educationists and guardians. The guardians, who I have consulted so far, are against the removal of MCQs.”
