A total of 291,209 students have applied for re-scrutiny and re-evaluation of 1,087,413 answer scripts in various subjects under all 11 education boards following the publication of this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examination results.
Among the 11 education boards, Dhaka Education Board received the highest number of applications for answer script re-scrutiny, followed by Chittagong Education Board.
According to board-wise statistics, the highest 335,879 applications were submitted to the Dhaka Education Board, while the Chittagong Education Board received the second-highest number of applications, totaling 117,700.
Among the other boards, Rajshahi received 109,971 applications, Jessore 97,618, Comilla 92,776, Dinajpur 89,420, Mymensingh 71,762, Barisal 53,409, Sylhet 51,243, Madrasah Education Board 40,830 and Technical Education Board 26,806 applications for re-scrutiny of answer scripts.
Speaking to BSS on the issue, President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman said the examination and assessment systems had been made fully objective and impartial over the past two years.
He said answer scripts had been evaluated according to a prescribed set of standards, and the same method had also been followed last year.
Following the recent publication of HSC results, it was found that students had performed poorly in compulsory subjects such as English, Bangla and ICT across all education boards.
He said the failure rate in these subjects was also high. Taking into consideration the comparatively poor results and the high number of failures, the education boards had already started working on the matter.
Identifying the shortage of teachers as a major reason behind the poor results, he said, "Many colleges do not have sufficient ICT teachers. Even in government colleges, teachers from other disciplines are assigned to teach ICT due to the absence of subject-specific teachers."
Dhaka Board scenario
Subject-wise statistics of the Dhaka Education Board show that a large number of applications for answer script re-scrutiny have been submitted not only in Bangla, English and ICT but also in important subjects under the Science, Humanities and Business Studies groups.
According to the statistics, an equal number of 42,002 applications were submitted for English First Paper and Second Paper, while 38,075 applications were received for Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
These two subjects recorded the highest numbers of answer script re-scrutiny applications under the Dhaka Education Board.
An analysis of the statistics shows that, alongside English, a significant number of applications were also submitted for re-scrutiny of Bangla answer scripts among the compulsory subjects.
An equal number of 24,858 applications were submitted for Bangla First Paper and Second Paper.
Among the important Science group subjects, Chemistry received the highest number of applications, with an equal 18,482 applications for both First Paper and Second Paper.
Besides, an equal number of 15,757 applications were submitted for re-scrutiny of Biology answer scripts in both First Paper and Second Paper.
In the Humanities group, an equal 3,571 applications were submitted for Civics and Good Governance First Paper and Second Paper, while 1,997 applications were received for Social Work.
Among the Business Studies group subjects, Accounting received the highest number of applications.
An equal 3,827 applications were submitted for Accounting First Paper and Second Paper.
Besides, 2,331 applications were received for re-scrutiny of Business Organization and Management answer scripts.
The Ministry of Education said the pass rate in the HSC and equivalent examinations, the results of which were published on October 31, stood at 52.12 percent across the 11 education boards.
Of the total 1,240,798 examinees, 646,685 students passed, while 40,084 secured GPA-5.
Failing to achieve their expected results, 291,209 students under the 11 boards applied for re-scrutiny of 1,087,413 answer scripts.
The deadline for submitting applications was 12 noon on November 8.
No leniency for negligence by examiners
Sources at the Ministry of Education and education boards said significant changes had also been observed following the re-scrutiny of this year's SSC and equivalent examination results.
Of the total 1,829,485 examinees under the 11 education boards in the SSC and equivalent examinations, 402,052 students applied for re-evaluation of their results, involving a total of 1,287,926 answer scripts.
Following re-scrutiny, a total of 4,585 students across the country who had initially failed in the SSC examinations passed, while another 3,079 students secured GPA-5.
The Inter-Education Board authorities said strict disciplinary action would also be taken against the concerned examiners and chief examiners if major inconsistencies in answer script assessment or significant discrepancies in marks were found during the HSC re-evaluation, as had happened in the SSC examinations.
President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman said more than a hundred examiners and chief examiners had been identified for major deviations in answer script assessment during the SSC examinations.
He said specific diagnostic assessments were being conducted on their cases and recommendations for disciplinary action were being sent to the Ministry of Education.
If similar cases of unjustified marking or excessive differences in marks were found during the HSC result re-scrutiny, recommendations would be made for disciplinary action against the examiners and chief examiners responsible for negligence in assessing answer scripts, following the same procedure.
He made it clear that inappropriate or faulty assessment would primarily be determined by examining the difference between the marks obtained by a student before and after re-scrutiny. Necessary action would be taken accordingly.
According to the action plan of the Inter-Education Board, after receiving students' applications for re-scrutiny of HSC and equivalent examination results through the website, the application data will be collected from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
Subsequently, the Computer Cell will send lists containing answer script information and subject-wise details to the relevant sections. Examiners will be appointed for re-evaluation, and answer scripts will be collected from the chief examiners.
In the next phase, re-evaluation work will begin following a briefing for the appointed examiners.
It was further stated that after completing the assessment, the statements signed by the re-evaluation examiners, along with the answer scripts whose marks have been changed, will be sent to the Computer Cell.
The Computer Cell will then enter the revised marks and verify the litho codes of the answer scripts. Following the final verification of the revised answer scripts, the results of the re-scrutiny and re-evaluation will be published.
Re-evaluation process begins
The Dhaka Education Board said the re-scrutiny process for this year's HSC examination answer scripts had begun.
The process started on November 11 with the participation of examiners and concerned officials.
It will continue until November 17, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day, at the Higher Secondary Examination Section on the seventh and eighth floors of Building No. 4 of the board.
Senior System Analyst of the Dhaka Education Board, Engineer Md. Monjurul Kabir, told BSS that the processing of hundreds of thousands of online applications and related data submitted for HSC answer script re-scrutiny would be carried out with utmost caution.
He said the board's ICT team was closely monitoring the entire process to ensure that no inconsistencies occurred in the changes to marks following publication of the results.