Today's HSC exam postponed over 'question leak'

The Dhaka Education Board last night postponed today's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination reportedly over question leak.
The test under other boards would be held as per schedule.
The test for English second paper was postponed due to “unavoidable reasons”, said Prof Taslima Begum, chairman of Dhaka board and Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee.
Sources, however, said the authorities had postponed the exam following a rumour that the question paper was leaked. The rumour started spreading in Dhaka and other parts of the country soon after the exams began on April 3. Some parents and teachers even called The Daily Star about it.
Nazmul Hossain, a parent of an HSC examinee, said he had seen one of his neighbours get the questions via SMS. He also said the neighbour had told him that the questions for English first paper also was received via text.
“How could our children concentrate on their studies amid such a situation?"

asked the parent whose daughter is sitting for the tests.
A teacher from Bashabo said some of his students informed him that the questions were being sent to them via text messages.
Rumours of question paper leak have become a regular phenomenon during and ahead of public exams, the teacher said. Sometimes they come true and sometimes not, the teacher said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, our Madaripur correspondent reported that two photocopy shops were sealed off during a drive conducted by the Kalkini upazila nirbahi officer. Sources claimed that the shops were involved in the photocopying of the allegedly leaked question papers.
The HSC and equivalent examinations began with 11,41,374 examinees taking part from 8,104 educational institutions. A total 3,00,038 students from 963 institutions are taking part in the tests under Dhaka Board alone.