Against the backdrop of student protests, road blockades and rallies in Dhaka and elsewhere over the holding of HSC examinations in severe weather and over errors and the standard of the physics question paper, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said some quarters want to embarrass the government.
He made the remarks on Thursday in response to journalists’ questions at the Secretariat.
The home minister said: “We have seen that many non-students also joined this movement. So we are not, so far, taking the matter seriously. Some quarters want to embarrass the government. They are essentially trying to fish in muddy waters.” He also noted that such a tendency towards agitation had been seen during the interim government’s time as well.
He said the students had conveyed their demands to the education minister and to the government. The education ministry had made its position clear that if any student failed to sit an examination because of severe weather, they would be given a chance to take it again.
The home minister said two physics questions had been wrong, so the education ministry would conduct an investigation, identify those responsible and take action. It had been announced that marks for those two questions would be added. Examinees were satisfied, he said. Even so, anyone who had not been able to take a subsequent exam would be given a chance during the Chattogram Education Board’s examinations later. “So the problem has been solved here,” he said.
He said many people had been hurt by a comment, and for that the education minister had expressed regret in a speech in parliament.
Asked what his message was for those trying to embarrass the government, the home minister said: “We are not taking these very seriously. We have seen it in one or two districts and one or two spots in Dhaka; the number of those talking about these things is not large. Perhaps it came up in the media, which is why the matter has become significant. We are not paying attention to these.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report