SSC: Short syllabus, fewer subjects
The number of examinees for this year's Secondary School Certificate and its equivalent exams has increased from last year.
The government is all set to hold the exams from November 14, over nine months after the scheduled time due to the Covid-19 situation.
Education Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said it would not be possible to hold next year's SSC exams in February.
She said this year's HSC and SSC tests will be completed by December and students will need to attend classes and take preparation.
"We will let students know when the exams will take place and what their syllabuses will be," she said while addressing a press conference on this year's SSC exams at her secretariat office.
CANDIDATES RISE
Dipu Moni said a total of 22,27,113 students are expected to take part in this SSC exams. This year, the number of examinees has gone up by 1,79,334 from last year.
Of the candidates, 11.98 lakh are girls and 10.28 lakh boys.
Students from 29,035 schools, madrasas and technical institutions will take the tests at 3,679 centres across the country.
Around 18,00,998 students will participate in SSC exams under nine general education boards and the number has risen by 1.65 lakh from last year.
Of them, 9.20 lakh are girls and 8.80 lakh boys, according to the education ministry data.
Asked about the reasons for increasing candidates in this SSC exams amid the Covid-19 situation, Prof Nehal Ahmed, Dhaka Education Board chairman and chief of Inter-education Board Coordination Sub-committee, said as the schools did not need to hold any test exams for this year's candidates, their number has gone up.
This year's SSC exams will start on November 14 and end on November 23. Usually, the tests take place in February.
SHORT SYLLABUS
This year, the examinees will have to take the tests only in three optional subjects with a shortened syllabus and the exams will carry fewer marks.
They will not have to sit for tests in compulsory subjects like Bangla, English and Mathematics.
The results of the three optional subjects and the Grade Point Average (GPA) of the students' previous public examinations, including Junior School Certificate (JSC) tests, will be taken into consideration while preparing the final results.
The exam duration for each paper will be one and a half hours and there will be no break between MCQ and written tests. Covid-19 health guidelines will be strictly followed during the exams, the authorities said.
Dipu Moni said the results will be published within 30 days after the exams end. All coaching centres will remain closed from November 8-25 and exams for science, humanities and business groups will be held on separate days.
MARKS DISTRIBUTION
Science group students will need to take 32 marks exams in each paper, while applicants from humanities and business groups will need to take 45 marks test, said officials of education boards.
"We have uploaded the marks distribution of SSC exams in websites of boards and all educational institutions have already been notified of it," said Prof Nehal.
Students will get one hour and 15 minutes to answer written questions and 15 minutes to answer multiple choice questions (MCQ).
This time, the examinees would get more options to answer the questions, shows the marks distribution.
According to the directive of boards on marks distribution, science students will need to write down answers to two out of eight questions and total marks will be 20. They will need to answer 12 out of 25 MCQ questions and total marks will be 12.
Humanities and business students will need to write down answers to three out of 11 questions and marks will be 30. While they will need to answer 15 out of 30 MCQ questions and marks will be 15.
"Although the exams will be held with fewer marks, we would convert the results to 100 marks," said Prof Nehal.
At the press conference, Dipu Moni said there will be an initiative so that SSC candidates might get preference to Covid vaccination when the campaign for children aged 12-17 begins.
She also said if anyone is infected with Covid-19 and hospitalised and they want to take part in the exams, the education board concerned can make the decision in this regard.
About the recent report of Transparency International Bangladesh on corruption in secondary education sector, Dipu Moni said the report has many discrepancies.
"They have made allegations about many things which have already been settled and actions has been taken. Anyone can look into the matter of corruption, but they should be impartial," she added.
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