Bangladesh to shut coaching centres for 1.5 months for HSC exams

The HSC and equivalent exams are set to start across the country on Jun 30

Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury has ordered all coaching centres to be shut from Jun 29 to Aug 11 for the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent exams.

“All coaching centres will remain closed from Jun 29 to Aug 11 to arrange tests in a fair and healthy environment free of question leak rumours and cheating,” the minister said at a media briefing at the ministry’s conference hall on Wednesday.

The HSC and equivalent exams are set to begin across the country on Jun 30. According to the revised syllabi for 2024, exams will be held for all subjects, feature questions totalling a full 100 marks and last three hours.

The minister said information will be exchanged online round the clock among the education board control rooms and related examination centres.

He said, “HSC tests usually start in Bangladesh in the first week of April every year, but the schedule has been altered over the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We [the ministry] are gradually trying to overcome the schedule disruption as the situation has returned to normal now.”

Over 1.4 million students will take part in the HSC and equivalent exams under the nine general education boards, the madrasa board and the technical education board. Among them, 750,281 are male and 700,509 are female.

The number of examinees rose by 91,448 in 2014 compared with 2023. The number of educational institutes has increased by 294 and exam centres by 67.