Dipu Moni sees no chance of holding JSC exams for eighth graders

The Bangladesh government may have to scrap Junior School Certificate and equivalent public exams for eighth graders again due to the coronavirus pandemic, the education minister has said.

Secondary School Certificate exams were held last year before the coronavirus struck Bangladesh, but the government had to scrap all other public exams at schools and colleges.

This year, the SSC exams will be held in November and Higher Secondary Certificate tests in December.

“We are ready as the SSC and HSC exams are nearing. But we don’t think we will have the opportunity to hold the JSC exams,” Education Minister Dipu Moni said on Tuesday at an event in Dhaka.

She said students of Class VIII will be evaluated by the end of the year like other classes. “But it won’t be like JSC.”

She referred to the primary and mass education ministry when a reporter asked whether the Primary Education Completion exams for Class V will be held. “Maybe those exams won’t be held.”

Schools and colleges reopened across Bangladesh earlier this month following a shutdown of one and a half years, but the number of students is dropping in the in-person classes.

The SSC and HSC students have regular classes, but their attendance is dropping because “many of them have completed the syllabuses”, Dipu Moni said. 

Some parents are not sending their children to school due to misinformation spreading on social media, she said.

The minister said the government will review the situation to take the next steps after three weeks of in-person classes.