HSC papers printed on exam day: Nahid

The government has reprinted the question papers of several Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) tests after an alleged leak of English second paper questions under Dhaka board.

A number of tests were held until May 25 after the alleged Apr 10 leak.

Questions of physics, chemistry and mathematics are said to have leaked.

A senior education ministry official told bdnews24.com that questions had been reprinted for several tests since then.

Responding to a query, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Monday said math and chemistry questions were printed shortly before the tests started.

There was no chance of math questions getting leaked as they were not printed before 6am on the examination day, he said.

As many as 1.14 million students are sitting this year’s HSC tests.

Asked how the reprinted questions were distributed across Bangladesh, Nahid shot back, “We successfully distributed millions of textbooks in time during last year’s political turmoil.

“Can’t we send question papers to the centres in time?”

An education ministry official, seeking anonymity, said conventionally, four sets of questions were used for examinations. But at present, two sets are being kept as ‘reserve’ and are printed on the exam day.

Nahid said the prime minister had directed him to keep it a secret. “But now, I have to disclose the matter due to your (journalists) repeated questions,” he said.

Inter-board coordination sub-committee chief Prof Taslima Begum declined comment when approached.

“It is a very confidential matter. [We] will talk about it later,” she said.

Minister Nahid said the media reports on the alleged question leaks were “based on mere perception”.

Although many talked about the leak, no-one had been identified yet in this connection, as no names had been mentioned, he said.

“No one has been able to point out the questions that are said to have been leaked... There’s an attempt to leak questions on Facebook for financial gains and putting the government in a tight spot,” said Nahid.