Some 17,192 candidates from nine general education boards across Bangladesh remained absent on the first day of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations on Sunday.
Among them, 4,222 candidates are from Dhaka Education Board, 1,607 from Chittagong Education Board, 1,720 from Rajshahi Education Board, 1,026 from Barisal Education Board, 940 from Sylhet Education Board, 2,246 from Dinajpur Education Board, 2,618 from Comilla Education Board, 978 from Mymensingh Education Board, 1,834 from Jessore Education Board.
The information was revealed at the Ministry of Education's control room.
The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations for 2023 began on Sunday morning.
Education Minister Dipu Moni and Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury visited the Badda High School test centre in Dhaka to check if everything was up to the mark.
According to the Ministry of Education, 2,072,163 students are sitting for this year's exams under 11 education boards - nine general, one madrasa and one technical.