Higher secondary examinees have marched toward the Secretariat with a six-point demand, including the resignation of Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon, in protest at HSC exams being held amid the ongoing disaster of continuous rain and waterlogging.
Students set off for the Secretariat from various parts of the capital around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Earlier, around 11 a.m., they had blocked the Science Lab intersection in the capital, halting traffic on surrounding roads. This created long tailbacks and left ordinary commuters and pedestrians in difficulty.
The students taking part chanted a range of slogans, including “One point, one demand: Milon’s resignation,” “Our just demands must be met,” and “Action, action, direct action.”
The protesting examinees said many students had been harmed by the decision to hold exams amid the ongoing disaster, waterlogging and generally unstable situation. Many could not reach exam centres on time, they said, while others were forced to sit exams under mental stress. They therefore demanded a chance to retake exams, full marks for any flawed questions, and special consideration in marking, in the interest of affected students.
They further said the education minister must resign, taking responsibility for the failure to handle the situation, and called for the swift implementation of their six-point demand. They announced they would continue the movement until their demands were met.
The students’ six-point demand is as follows: 1. A chance to retake exams held in disaster conditions must be ensured. 2. If a subject is retaken, whichever of the earlier exam and the retake yields the higher marks must be counted as the final result. 3. Full marks must be given to all candidates for any question that is wrong or flawed. 4. Given the current unstable situation, exams should resume after a short break to let students prepare mentally. 5. Any sudden change in the type of question paper must be taken into account in marking. 6. A student-friendly environment must be ensured at exam centres, and unnecessarily harsh behaviour avoided.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report