The Education Ministry has backtracked on its promise to retake examinations of several Secondary School Certificate (SSC) papers even after evidence emerged that the questions were leaked.
Officials of the ministry say they will not take any steps that can cause harm to the students and their parents. The government, on the other hand, is overhauling the exam system by eliminating multiple choice questions.
Experts have pointed out that cancelling the exams and retaking them will be a huge challenge for the government as more than two million students took the tests. Holding the exams again will put more pressure on the students.
“The government has no plan to cancel any exam,” a senior Education Minister said. “We are emphasizing on preventive measure and bringing the culprits [behind question leak] to book.”
An evaluation committee, formed by the Education Ministry to investigate allegations of question leak, has found that the MCQ sections of several subjects were available before the exam.
It filed a report on Monday without recommending cancellation of the exams, Education Ministry Deputy Secretary (government secondary 1) Md Abu Ali Sazzad Hossain said.
Committee chief Md Alamgir previously said that they would not make any recommendation that could be harmful for the students and told the examinees not to worry.
Routine question paper leaks have been a source of huge embarrassment for the government this year.
MCQ portions of Bangla, English, Mathematics, Higher Mathematics, ICT, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Finance and Banking, Bangladesh and Global Studies, and Islam and Moral Education were found available on different social media platforms.
The High Court on February 15 described the menace as “more serious than drug addiction” and formed two separate committees — one judicial and the other administrative — to find and apprehend those behind problem and put an end to the leaks.
The Buet-led administrative investigation committee has found that the leaked MCQ sections of a few subjects matched the exam question papers, a member of the body said, adding that they would not recommend canceling any exam considering the interest of the examinees.
“Cancelling exams is not the solution. It will add extra pressure both on the government and the examinees. Besides, not all students got the leaked question papers,” the committee member, declining to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune.
Educationists and experts agreed. They said that the only solution was taking preventive measures.
Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Chowdhury said: “Cancellation of exam is not a remedy. It will cause trouble for numerous people. If the government decides to cancel any exam, what is the guarantee that the question papers will not be leaked again?”
He said the government should not interrupt the lives of the students who were busy preparing for college admission tests.
“The government will not manage to retake the exams as it requires vast arrangements. Such decision would be a waste of time, money and energy both for the government and the students,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
“I think few students received the leaked questions while most participated in the exams with their own preparation. What the government can do right now is ensure no question paper will be leaked in future,” he added.
When asked, educationalist Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury said that the continuous leak of question papers was destroying the government’s achievement in the education sector.
“If the government fails to realize the problem and prevent it immediately, providing free books and free education will not bring about any good for the nation,” Shyamoli said.
“Since the exams are over, it will be very difficult for the government to hold the exams again. The cancellation of any exam would be a torture for the innocent students,” she added.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid could not be reached for comments despite several attempts.
