The government is doing everything possible to put a lid on question leak, says Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid.
His remarks came on Monday, when the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent exams started across the country.
“We have adopted all possible measures to plug question leaks and stop any kind of irregularities. We hope it will not happen this time and if it happens, the perpetrators will face legal consequences,” Nahid told the media after visiting an exam centre in capital Dhaka.
Following leaks of question papers of eighth and fifth graders last year, questions of this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams have appeared on the social media, especially Facebook, ahead of the tests.
In an effort to curb the menace, the government had made it mandatory for students to enter the SSC exam centres half an hour before the tests begin.
Mobile phones or any other electronic devices had been banned from the centres.
Only the centre secretary is allowed to use a phone with no camera.
Minister Nahid claimed on Monday that the possibility of question leak has come down significantly due to the series of measures.
“The sealed envelopes containing the questions have been opened 25 minutes before the test after the centre secretary received the set code,” he said.
Against the backdrop of harsh criticism over the question leaks in recent years, the education ministry decided to set the questions for the HSC and equivalent exams by lottery 25 minutes prior to the exams to prevent the leaks.
Similar to the SSC exams, students are required to enter the exam centres 30 minutes prior to their HSC exams.
On entering centres half hour before the test, the minister said that only 10 students at the centre he visited failed to comply. “Their details have been taken. We will run a background check if anything suspicious is found.”
Reply to queries on frisking students while entering centres and dropping multiple-choice questions, Nahid said that initial discussions over the issues have kicked.
“What we need to consider is the public’s opinion,” he said urging the media to report on the issue.
More than 1.3 million students are taking part in the exams at 2,541 centres in Bangladesh and abroad.
The theoretical exams are scheduled to end on May 5 while the practical exams have been scheduled between May 16 and 25.

Photo: Nashirul Islam