Entry into centres 30 minutes before SSC exams must

The SSC examinees must reach the centres half an hour before the tests or else they will be barred from taking the examinations, the education ministry says, reports bdnews24.com.

The ministry has come up with the rule in a bid to stop question leaks which tainted the Junior School Certificate and Primary School Certificate examinations last year.

The ministry issued a circular on Wednesday following a meeting led by Md Sohrab Hossain, Secretary to the Secondary and Higher Education Division.

The written part of the Secondary School Certificate and equivalent examinations will be held between Feb 1 and Feb 24 this year.

The same rule was announced on Oct 24 last year but it was hardly applied during the JSC and Junior Dakhil Certificate or JDC examinations.

Students were found checking phones for leaked questions and answers outside the centres across Dhaka. The leaked questions matched the ones that appeared in the actual exams.

Different Facebook pages and social media apps became hubs of leaked questions.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid claimed questions were being leaked from the exam centres and it was the teachers who were doing it.

The meeting discussed possible ways to stop question leaks, according to the circular.

They include carrying the questions inside specially sealed envelopes, making multiple sets of questions, using pin codes, using USB drives to carry questions inside centres and blocking internet connections around centres for the time being.

No-one except the centre secretary will be allowed to take smartphone inside the centre, as per decisions taken at the meeting.