24,784 candidates absent, 7 expelled on the first day of HSC exams

This year‍‍`s Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations began simultaneously across Bangladesh on Thursday. On the first day of the examinations, 24,784 candidates were absent, according to the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee.

The committee also said that seven candidates were expelled for engaging in unfair practices during the examination.

The information was announced on Thursday by Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman, President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board. The HSC examinations began at 10:00 a.m. with the compulsory Bangla First Paper and concluded at 1:00 p.m.

According to statistics released by the committee, under the country‍‍`s nine general education boards, 838,864 of the 856,097 registered candidates sat for the compulsory Bangla First Paper examination. A total of 17,233 candidates were absent, representing 2.01 percent of all registered examinees.

The number of absent candidates by board was as follows: 3,971 under the Dhaka Board, 2,467 under the Rajshahi Board, 1,795 under the Cumilla Board, 2,078 under the Jashore Board, 1,340 under the Chattogram Board, 1,127 under the Sylhet Board, 1,346 under the Barishal Board, 1,937 under the Dinajpur Board, and 1,182 under the Mymensingh Board.

Among the nine general education boards, five candidates were expelled for malpractice: one under the Cumilla Board, two under the Jashore Board, one under the Dinajpur Board, and one under the Mymensingh Board. No invigilators were expelled.

Under the Madrasah Education Board, 80,653 candidates took the Qur‍‍`an Majid examination. A total of 4,478 candidates were absent, while one candidate was expelled for malpractice.

Meanwhile, under the Technical Education Board, 80,603 candidates sat for the Bangla-II examination. The board recorded 3,073 absentees, and one candidate was expelled for unfair means.

The committee also said that, under the Dhaka Education Board, HSC examinations were held at eight examination centres outside Bangladesh.