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Published : 16 May 2026, 01:42 AM
Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has announced that next year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams will be brought forward to January, the first month of the year, leading to mixed reactions among students, guardians and people in the education sector.
Some guardians and students say that bringing forward the exams will leave a gap in preparation.
Others say that the exams can be rescheduled to take place earlier, but it would be best to implement the decision from 2028 instead of 2027.
And another group has applauded the government's decision. They say that as the exams will be held earlier, students will be free from the limbo of “session jams”, arguing 24 months is sufficient time for students to prepare.
Mental health experts are concerned that this “hasty” decision will have a negative impact on the mental health of examinees.
Those who will take the SSC or equivalent exams in 2027 will have studied from sixth to eighth grade under the new curriculum formulated by the Awami League government. Then, when they reached the ninth grade, the interim government reverted their curriculum to the one from 2010. These examinees also complain that they received books for ninth grade after a delay of two to three months under the interim government.
Education Minister Milon announced at a briefing at the Secretariat on Thursday that next year's SSC exams will start from Jan 7, while the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams will be held from Jun 6.
The minister said that this initiative is being taken to save time, commenting that some students are completing HSC and equivalent exams at the age of 20.
"We are gradually moving towards ensuring that two years of every student's life are not wasted. We have to decide on this. The board cannot make the decision, so the ministry will do so."
On Wednesday, in a meeting at the conference room of the Secondary and Higher Education Department, teachers, students, guardians and stakeholders proposed that the SSC and equivalent examinations be held in January and the HSC and equivalent examinations in June.
The theory portions of the SSC and equivalent exams will continue until Feb 6 and the practical examinations will end by Feb 11.
The theory portions of the HSC and equivalent exams will continue until July 13 and the practical examinations will end by Jul 18.
Although it was once customary to hold SSC and equivalent exams in February and HSC and equivalent exams in April, the schedule was thrown into complete disarray by the COVID-19 pandemic and the July Uprising. This year's SSC exams were held in April, while the HSC and equivalent exams are scheduled for July.
Examinees, Parents Worried
Fariha Hossain Jahin, a student in grade 10 at a school in Dhaka, said she was worried about the decision to hold the exams in January.
Jahin told bdnews24.com, "For the past few years, exams have been held in April. So we thought our exams would also be held in April. But this new decision came suddenly. We are getting three months less time than others to prepare."
"We studied the new curriculum from Class 6 to Class 8. Then from Class 9 we reverted to the old curriculum. Meanwhile, the exams have been brought forward. We are the guinea pigs. If the exams of those who are now in Class 9 had been brought forward, they could have started preparing from now."
Although the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) was supposed to distribute books at the beginning of the year, the printing of secondary level books in 2025 ended on Mar 24.
As a result, students had to wait until April to get the books for Class 9 that year, recalled another SSC examinee, Mahin Shahriar.
He told bdnews24.com, "Everyone has their own preparation plans. We received the books for Class 9 three months late. Then, just as we had set plans to revise in January and February, the exams were brought forward. Now we have to struggle to finish the syllabus."
It takes two academic years, or 24 months, to complete the syllabus for grades 9 and 10. But year after year, students have received 26 to 27 months to complete this syllabus.
Therefore, Mahin feels that the 2027 SSC examinees are being deprived of the proper time to prepare.
The daughter of Dhaka housewife Tanuja Akbar will sit for the SSC exam in 2027. She grew worried when she received word that her daughter’s exams would be held earlier.
She told bdnews24.com, "They received books for Class 9 in April. Now the children are already four months behind. There was a school holiday in February for Ramadan, now classes are closed for the SSC exam. Then comes Eid ul-Azha. When will the children finish the syllabus, and when will they start to revise?"
"On top of that, these children studied under the new curriculum from Class 6 to 8, where there was no pressure to study. In Class 9, they are in a desperate situation due to the pressure of going back and studying under the new curriculum. Many had made plans to revise at the last minute, but the exams were brought forward in such a rush."
She believes that parents should collectively approach the courts against the government’s “hasty decision”.
Is 24 Months Enough?
The curriculum for classes 9 and 10 has been designed to be completed within two academic years, or 24 months, which is “sufficient”, according to Khondokar Ehsanul Kabir, president of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and chairman of the Dhaka Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.
He told bdnews24.com, “Classes began on Jan 1. So, there is no scope to say that students will get less time. Their 24 months will end in December, and based on that, the examinations will be held in January.”
“On Wednesday, the ministry sought opinions from stakeholders, including teachers, students and guardians, both in person and virtually. They proposed holding the SSC examinations in January. The decision was made accordingly.”
According to Ehsanul, although the printing of textbooks for 2025 was concluded in March, students did not have to wait until then to receive their books.
He said the government had rescheduled the examinations to an earlier date in order to protect students’ “valuable” academic time.
However, the board chairman said there was still time to assess the efficacy of this decision.
“If students later say this was not the right decision, then it was not right. That will become clear after some time. For now, they should continue their preparations. At this stage, the education boards have only published a proposed examination schedule. It is not the final routine.”
Will the HSCs Also Move to January?
The SSC and equivalent examinations have been brought forward to January to reduce academic gaps for students.
The education minister has also spoken about gradually shifting both SSC and HSC examinations to the end of the academic year.
Ehsanul said while SSC examinations would remain in January, there are plans to move HSC examinations to April.
He said: “For procedural reasons, some gap is necessary between SSC and the HSC examinations.”
“After SSC candidates receive their results and evaluation, they can begin higher secondary studies. So there has to be a two-month gap between the two examinations,” he explained.
“The minister has said efforts will be made to minimise time wastage as far as possible. So in the coming years, HSC examinations may be brought forward to April. But they will not be moved to January.”
Ehsanul also said the education boards would not face major difficulties in arranging two public examinations at the beginning of the year.
He added that the boards’ capacity could be expanded if necessary.
Plea Not to Treat Students as "Guinea Pigs"
The decision to abruptly advance the public examination schedule could have a negative impact on the mental health of 2 million candidates, says Fazilatun Nessa Shapla, a counselling psychologist at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).
Speaking to bdnews24.com, she said: “While the initiative to reduce session jams is positive, the plan to suddenly change the schedule for those appearing in next year’s SSC exams could serve as a major psychological shock.”
She recalled the introduction of a new curriculum for three years aimed at easing students’ academic pressure.
“Then, that curriculum was suddenly cancelled, and we returned to the previous exam-based system,” she said.
Students received their class 9 books late during the last interim government’s tenure, she noted.
“Now, we have suddenly moved their exams forward by three months. It will be difficult for many to handle such pressure," she said.
Calling on the government not to treat students like "guinea pigs", she remarked that such decisions could create unnecessary anxiety among children.
"Anxiety leads to fear, and fear causes children to give up,” she warned.
“If the announcement to advance the exams had been made a year in advance, the children would have had time to cope with the pressure," he said.
She warned that denying students adequate time to prepare might lead them to adopt unfair means or cheat in exams.
Some Experts Welcome the Move
Prof Mohammad Ali Zinnah of Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research (IER) called the decision to advance the exams a "good” move.
A significant amount of time is lost between SSC results and HSC exams, and again between HSC results and university admissions, he explained.
“Advancing the exams would reduce this gap, allowing students to cut their education costs and begin their professional careers earlier,” he said.
Despite the challenges involved in implementing the decision, the teacher has no doubt about its value.
He said the first batch of SSC examinees might object to the advancement, but students in subsequent batches would gradually adapt to the new schedule.
Tapan Kumar Sarkar, former chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, also welcomed the decision.
The syllabus for classes 9 and 10 is supposed to be completed over 24 months, which means it continues until December, he said.
“Therefore, if the SSC exam is held in January, there is no scope to claim that students are getting less time. This initiative will reduce session jams," Tapan said.
He also pointed out that the current exam timing is not suitable for some students who live in disaster-prone localities as the months of April and June bring cyclones, rains and floods.
He said holding exams during the December-January period would be easier, adding that gradually shifting the schedule to that timeframe would be a commendable initiative.
