The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations for 2026 begin simultaneously across the country today, Tuesday. Compared to last year, the number of examinees has decreased by nearly 100,000. Under 11 education boards—including general, technical, and madrasa boards—a total of 1,928,970 students took part in the exams last year. This year, 1,857,344 students will sit for the exams, marking a decrease of 71,626 candidates within a year. This is the lowest number of SSC examinees in the past six years.
Meanwhile, unprecedented strict measures have been decided to ensure a cheating-free environment in the SSC and equivalent exams. CCTV cameras will be installed in every examination room. According to instructions issued by the education boards, 20 types of potential offenses have been identified, with three levels of punishment including cancellation, expulsion, and imprisonment.
At the first level, actions such as talking in the exam hall, having writings on desks or clothing, hiding information in calculators, or carrying mobile phones or electronic devices will result in cancellation of that year’s exam. At the second level, if a candidate leaks question papers or answer scripts বাইরে, threatens invigilators, or leaves the hall without submitting their answer script, their exam will be canceled and they will be barred from participating for the next year. At the third level, serious offenses such as impersonation (proxy), deliberately altering roll or registration numbers, exchanging answer scripts, physically attacking officials, or displaying weapons will result in a two-year expulsion. Additionally, those involved in such serious offenses will face general diary (GD) entries at police stations and regular criminal cases. To enforce these measures, special vigilance teams with field-level authority will be deployed. Furthermore, under a new decision, practical exams cannot be conducted at centers that lack their own laboratory facilities.
Two years ago, 1,895,399 students registered as regular candidates under the 11 education boards. Of them, 1,448,511 have registered as regular candidates for this year’s exam. This means around 450,000 students are not participating this year—either they dropped out or remained in previous classes. However, including both regular and irregular candidates, the total number of examinees this year is 1,857,344.
According to sources from the Inter-Education Board, among this year’s candidates, 930,305 are male and 927,039 are female. Students from 30,666 educational institutions across the country will take the exams at 3,885 centers. The exams begin today with the Bangla First Paper and will run from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. After the theoretical exams, practical exams will be held from June 7 to June 14.
Answer Scripts to Be Closely Monitored
At a press conference held yesterday at the conference room of the Secondary and Higher Education Division, Education Minister Dr. A. N. M. Ehsanul Haque Milan said that this year, there will be monitoring to ensure that examiners evaluate answer scripts properly. A monitoring cell has been formed, along with a WhatsApp group including DCs and UNOs. Regarding “lenient marking,” the minister stated that no instruction has been given to award extra or humanitarian marks. Cyber surveillance will also be used to monitor whether question papers are leaked.
Center secretaries have been instructed that practical exams must be conducted at the same centers where theoretical exams are held. Additionally, major reforms have been introduced in appointing examiners to ensure transparency. Teachers from the same institution cannot be appointed as “external examiners” for their own students. There will be no break between creative (CQ) and multiple-choice (MCQ) sections. Authorities have also been instructed to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply during exam hours.
Government Aims to Remove ‘Exam Fear’
At a press conference at the Ministry of Education, Prime Minister’s Adviser and spokesperson Mahdi Amin stated that the government aims to eliminate the term “exam fear” from students’ minds. He also reassured guardians not to be unnecessarily anxious about their children.
