The students, who failed in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations, will be given the opportunity to retake the exams within one month, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon said today.

He made the remarks while responding to a question at a press conference held at the Secretariat here, following the announcement of the HSC and equivalent examination results.

In response to another query, the education minister said re-examinations would be conducted within a maximum of one month to ensure that students who failed do not lose an entire academic year and can quickly return to the mainstream.

He further added that those who will do not pass or choose not to participate in these supplementary exams will not be left behind. 

Instead, he said, special projects and measures will be implemented to integrate them into technical and vocational education, transforming them into skilled workforce.

Regarding the evaluation of answer scripts and past examination results, Milon said to prevent errors or a lack of transparency, each examiner was assigned a smaller number of scripts to evaluate this time. 

In the past, he said, there were instances where thousands of results were altered during the re-evaluation process, while steps are now being taken to identify and address the root causes of such weaknesses and irregularities.

About the decline in pass rates, the education minister said both the pass rate and the number of GPA-5 achievers have decreased slightly this year. 

He emphasised that this is not an issue limited to a single subject; rather it reflects longstanding deficiencies within the overall learning methodology, textbooks, and the education system - all of which must be re-evaluated. 

Referring to past instances of manipulation in the evaluation of answer scripts, the minister said previously, shortcoming and irregularities by teachers during the evaluating process had led to significant, large-scale changes in examination results.

He said in the past, there had been incidents of question paper leaks - a menace that the incumbent government has addressed with a strong hand.

Regarding the relatively poor performance in English and ICT, Milon said special programmes have already been initiated to reverse this trend. 

There are plans to systematically merge colleges that face a shortage of students or have a zero-pass rate with institutions that demonstrate strong academic performance, he said. 

He reassured that the government is alert so that no teacher loses their job as a result of this process.

On the subject of ensuring regular classroom attendance and restoring a proper educational environment, the minister said it is essential to guarantee that teachers - not only in major cities but also in rural areas - conduct their classes regularly. 

To this end, he said, measures are being taken to install CCTV cameras in classrooms - much like those used in examination centres - and to implement regular monitoring, ensuring that no one can avoid their duties.

Mahdi Amin, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Education and Primary & Mass Education; Gias Uddin Rimon, Special Assistant for Primary & Mass Education; the chairmen of different education boards; and senior ministry officials were present.