A total of 18 out of 53 examinees of Dhaka Match Industries (now Dada Match Factory) Secondary High School have so far failed to fill in the forms to sit for SSC examinations as they could not afford the money required for that purpose. These 18 examinees are sons and daughters of jobless workers of the closed Dada Match Factory at Rupsha Strand road under Khulna sadar thana. Each of them requires over Tk 3,500 to fill in the form by the deadline of November 14.
The SSC examinations under Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education are expected to begin in the first week of February next year if situation remains favourable, said headmaster Farid Uddin Gazi.
He told New Age that about Tk 3,500 is required as board fee and three-month coaching fee to fill in the forms.
But jobless workers could not afford it as they have been reeling under abject poverty since closure of the factory on February 18 of 2010.
Faruk Hossain, guardian of an examinee, said he had been leading a miserable life for the last two years as closure of the factory rendered him jobless.
‘I have to remain half-fed for most of the days of a month. So, it is not possible for me to collect money for my son to fill in the form of SSC examination,’ he said.
The president of Dada Match Workers’ Union Md Delwar Hossain appealed to the solvent of society to come forward to help these 18 students financially so that they can sit for the next SSC examination.
The headmaster said he would meet the KCC mayor, Moniruzzaman, seeking financial help from KCC fund for enabling these 18 examinees to sit for the examination. These poor 18 students fared well in test examination, he said.
Courtesy of New Age
