The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations began peacefully across Bangladesh on Thursday (July 2), with 24,784 students absent across 11 education boards on the first day.
The highest absentee rate was recorded in the Madrasa Education Board, where 4,478 of 85,131 registered examinees — 5.26 percent — were absent. Seven students were expelled for cheating or other violations, but no teachers were expelled.
A total of 12,70,583 students from 9,439 institutions are sitting for the exams at 2,697 centers nationwide — an increase of 22,766 over the previous year.
Among the nine general education boards, 17,233 of 8,56,097 registered examinees — 2.01 percent — were absent. Five students were expelled: one each from the Comilla, Dinajpur, and Mymensingh boards, and two from the Jessore board.
In the Technical Education Board, 3,073 of 83,676 examinees — 3.67 percent — were absent, with one student expelled.
The exams opened with Bengali first paper for the general and technical boards and Quran Majeed for the Madrasa board. Written exams will continue until August 8, with practical exams to be completed by August 15.
For the first time in the country’s history, HSC exams are being conducted under CCTV surveillance. Special security measures have been taken to prevent question paper leaks, and all general boards are using the same question paper for the first time.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report