“Brief syllabuses have been prepared for SSC and HSC students that will allow them to get ready for the exams within three to four months,” she said while unveiling Bangabandhu’s mural at the National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM) in a virtual programme.

Referring to students demanding auto-promotion to the next grade, the minister said that the way the students are demonstrating without following the health guidelines might pose additional risk of Covid-19 transmission.

Highest safety measures will be taken for holding examinations, she said assuring them that there’s no reason to be upset.

“We considered auto promotion of HSC examinees in 2020 as they had already completed their preparation for exams and coronavirus transmission also surged [at that time] but now in 2021, the situation is different,” the minister said.

She noted that students can’t get auto promotion as the infection rate was declining and the examinees failed to prepare properly for the exam in 2021.

On December 29, the education minister said that SSC and its equivalent examinations would be held in June 2021 and HSC in July-August.

Also read: Classes to resume on a limited scale: Dipu Moni

The government is planning to hold regular classes for SSC and HSC examinees from February next, she had said.

HSC and equivalent examinations of 2020 were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The HSC results will be evaluated based on the students’ JSC and SSC results, the minister said.

HSC, equivalent results by Jan 28

The parliament on Sunday cleared three amendment bills, paving the path for publishing the results of HSC and equivalent examinations by January 28 next.

These bills are 'Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill, 2021', 'Bangladesh Technical Education Board (Amendment) Bill, 2021' and 'Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board (Amendment) Bill, 2021'.

Also read: HSC, equivalent exam results can be published; bills passed

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni moved the bills in the House and those were then passed by voice vote.

It was proposed to promulgate three ordinances amending 'Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance 1961', 'Bangladesh Technical Education Board Act 2018' and 'Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board Act 2020' to publish the results of the HSC and its equivalent examinations.

As per the existing laws, there is no provision to publish the results of the HSC and its equivalent examinations without holding examinations.

The bills were placed since it was not possible to hold examinations amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also read: HSC results in Jan after issuance of ordinance: Dipu Moni

The results will be published after coordinating 75 percent of the SSC and 25 percent from the JSC-JDC results, Dipu Moni said recently.

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 Bangladesh history that a public examination has been cancelled.

Educational institution closure

All the educational institutions were closed on March 16 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The closure was extended until January 30 this year as there had been no marked improvement in the situation.

Also read: SSC exams in June, HSC July-Aug: Dipu Moni

A number of exams were also postponed during this period.

On Jan 22, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education ordered the educational institutions to prepare for reopening within Feb 4 by maintaining health guidelines and ensuring safety of the students and the staff.

The DSHE prepared guidelines and asked the educational institutions follow them.