The SSC (Secondary School Certificate) and equivalent examinations, which were postponed due to the deteriorating flood situation across the country, will start on September 15.
Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni announced the new date in a press conference held at the meeting room of the Ministry of Education on Sunday.
She said the SSC and equivalent examinations this year will start from September 15 while the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations will start in November.
SSC and HSC exams had been postponed amid rising Covid-19 infections and deteriorating of the overall flood situation across the country.
Earlier, the SSC and HSC exams were scheduled to begin from June 19 and August 22 respectively.
However, the sudden flood in Sylhet and Sunamganj disrupted all the preparations, prompting the education ministry to suspend the exams.
The government had said that SSC exams will start after Eid, while HSC exams will start two months after the beginning of SSC exams.
This time the examination time is reduced to 2 hours from 3 hours. Out of this, 20 minutes will be allotted for MCQ part and 1 hour 40 minutes for creative part.
This year 20,21,868 students are expected to participate in the SSC examination. Among them, there are 15,99,711 candidates in nine general boards, 2,68,495 candidates in Dakhil and 1,63,662 candidates in technical board.
Last year there were 22,43,254 candidates. As a result, in this year's SSC and equivalent exams have decreased by about 200,000 candidates compared to last year.
Earlier, the SSC exam was deferred for about four months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Usually, the SSC exams take place in February.
In 2020, the SSC exams were completed before the closure of educational institutions.
The HSC examinees were promoted automatically on the basis of their JSC and SSC results.
In 2021, both the exams were held on shortened syllabuses in November and December due to the Covid-19 pandemic.