Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations begin today involving some 13,15,002 examinees from 26,297 educational institutions across the country.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said the government has taken all-out measures to ensure a peaceful environment and prevent cheating at the examination centres.
At a pre-examination press briefing at the Secretariat, he said more and more students are appearing in the exams every year, which shows people are realising the necessity of academic education.
Besides, the government is trying to encourage students to continue school by providing free textbooks, stipends and other incentives, he added.
This year the number of examinees under ten education boards including Madrasa Education Board and Technical Education Board is higher by around 1.08 lakh. Some 6,78,293 male and 6,36,709 female students will sit the examinations at 2,181 centres.
Around 29 percent of the students, who were registered in class IX as regular students, did not fill in the form to sit the exams. Some 10,30,938 regular with 2,82,153 irregular students are likely to take the SSC and equivalent exams.
Asked about the drop-outs, Nahid said they still have next two years to take the exams.
The minister, however, said the dropout rate came down to 39.51 in 2010 from 42.15 in 2009.
“We are waging a kind of movement to bring the drop out rate to a minimum,” Nahid said. But the longstanding practice and the country’s socio-economic condition make it difficult to achieve the goal.
A total of 3,00,898 examinees under Dhaka board, 1,30,688 under Rajshahi, 1,16,400 under Comilla, 1,30,638 under Jessore, 76,959 under Chittagong, 61,828 under Barisal, 48,527 under Sylhet, and 1,25,922 under Dinajpur boards will sit the SSC exam.
Some 2,39,771 students under madrasa and 83,431 under technical education boards will also take the exams.
This year, 261 students are sitting the exams at seven overseas centres.
Nahid mentioned that the education ministry has requested the power ministry to ensure smooth electricity supply during this month for the students’ sake.
The minister will visit Mohammadpur High School in the capital today.
