Three separate amendment bills were passed in the parliament yesterday, paving the way for publishing results without holding a public exam during a pandemic, epidemic, and Act of God.
The bills are the Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the Bangladesh Vocational Education Board (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
As per the existing laws, there is no provision to publish the results of HSC and equivalent exams without holding tests.
The amendments were incorporated to Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance, 1961, Bangladesh Vocational Education Board Act, 2018, and Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board Act, 2020.
Education Minister Dipu Moni placed the bills that were passed by voice vote.
The authorities will be able to publish result if it is not possible to hold and conduct exams at the end of the intermediate and secondary stage and any other stage because of a pandemic, epidemic, and Act of God or any other inevitable circumstances as determined by the government, by an order in the official gazette, said the bills.
The government moved the bills as it could not hold and publish HSC and equivalent exams due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Dipu Moni said that they would issue a gazette notification within the next two days and subsequently announce the HSC exam.
The authorities have completed all their works to announce HSC and equivalent exams, she added.
Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, after a weekly cabinet meeting, assured that the results of the HSC and equivalent exams would be published by January 28.
The scheduled HSC and equivalent examinations were cancelled on October 7 due to the pandemic. It was decided that students will get their results based on their SSC and JSC results.
A total of 1,365,789 candidates under 11 educational boards by the first week of this January.
The results will be published after coordinating 75 percent of the SSC and 25 percent of JSC-JDC results, Dipu Moni told the media earlier.
The HSC batch of 2020 will be the first batch of students who will get certificates without sitting for the examinations as it is the first time in the history of the country that a public examination has been cancelled.
On March 17, the government closed all schools to contain the spread of coronavirus. The closure has recently been extended till January 30. The authorities have yet to decide when to reopen the educational institutions.
The long closure has led to the cancellation of exams and left academic calendars in disarray.
BNP MP Harunur Rashid, while taking part in the discussion on the bills, said that some kind of exams should be taken.
"Auto pass will call on a grave crisis. Meritorious students will be the worst sufferers of the auto pass," he said.
Gonoforum MP Mukabbir Khan also said that exams could be held following health guidelines but the government failed to hold this.
Jatiya Party MP Mujibul Haque said that there was an instance of giving an auto pass to students in 1961 and people who passed in such a way still face a disgrace.
BNP MP Rumeen Farhana said students rigorously become attentive to lessons ahead and during a public exam. In this corona situation, students were out of the classroom and practical classes.
"If you give HSC results based on results of previous public results, will not ensure justice for candidates", she said.