Education ministry proposes to cancel PEC exams this year

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has proposed to scrap Primary Education Completion (PEC) examinations of the fifth grade only for this year due to the coronavirus crisis.

The proposal was sent to the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday, confirmed senior secretary of the ministry Akram-al-Hussein.

A senior official of the ministry told Prothom Alo that prime minister Sheikh Hasina would make the final decision in this regard.

If this proposal is approved, the scholarship that is usually awarded on the basis of this test will not be given this time.

However, the ministry has planned to conduct the examination in their respective schools this year on the basis of a shortened syllabus. The implementation of the plan also depends on the coronavirus situation.

The ministry is also preparing a set of plans on how to run the school in compliance with the health rules.

Although the primary and mass education ministry has clarified its position on the final examination of primary education, it is yet to make any decision on the Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination at the end of the eighth grade.

The secretary of the ministry’s secondary and higher education department, Mahbub Hossain, said no final decision has been taken yet on JSC and HSC examinations.