How question papers of public exams like HSC prepared, and why do errors persist despite extensive scrutiny?

The decision to proceed with the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations amid adverse weather conditions has sparked widespread criticism from candidates and their parents. Dissatisfaction has also centred on the examination papers themselves.

Students have alleged that the Physics question paper contained errors and that the papers in several subjects were comparatively more “difficult” than expected.

The government has acknowledged the error in the Physics First Paper examination.

Speaking in the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) on Tuesday, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon said that questions No. 6 and 7 of the Physics paper contained mistakes.

He announced that all candidates would be awarded full marks for those two questions. In addition, four teachers responsible for moderating the Physics (Theory) First Paper question have been served with show-cause notices.

A total of 1,270,583 candidates—both regular and irregular—are sitting this year's HSC and equivalent examinations, which commenced on 2 July. The examinations are being conducted at 2,697 centres across the country.

Owing to flooding caused by torrential rainfall, examinations under the Chittagong education board, as well as the Madrasah and Technical education boards in the region, had to be postponed on several occasions. Most recently, all examinations have been suspended until 16 July.

Examinations were held across the rest of the country on Monday, excluding the Chattogram region. However, heavy rainfall on the day caused severe disruption for candidates travelling to examination centres.

At the Cumilla Government Women's College centre, many students were forced to wade through water reaching from knee to waist level, while others travelled by boat to reach the venue. Yesterday, groups of candidates staged protests in Dhaka and several other locations against the circumstances.

Addressing the issue in parliament yesterday, education minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon said that examinations had been suspended throughout every district under the Chittagong education board because of flooding.

As those examinations must inevitably be rescheduled, he stated that the Physics First Paper, Accounting and Logic exams—which had been held on Monday elsewhere in the country—could also be taken again when the Chittagong board examinations take place.

Candidates and parents argue that students’ academic continuity has been severely disrupted ever since the Covid-19 pandemic. They further contend that, following the mass uprising of 2024, normal educational activities have also been substantially interrupted for various reasons.

Against such a backdrop, they say, the comparatively “tougher” nature of some of this year's examination papers has placed many candidates at a distinct disadvantage.

The mother of a candidate from a well-known educational institution in Dhaka told Prothom Alo that the multiple-choice section of the Bangla examination on the opening day was relatively difficult.

A parent of a student from Notre Dame College also said that his son had found this year's question papers noticeably more challenging.

An official of one of the education boards, however, disagreed with claims that the papers were excessively difficult.

According to the official, no questions were set outside the prescribed syllabus. He added that many students nowadays rely more heavily on guidebooks than on the prescribed textbooks. Since examination questions are prepared solely from the official textbooks and syllabus, those who devote less attention to the core texts may naturally perceive the papers as more difficult.

Meanwhile, errors were identified in questions No. 6 and 7 of the creative section of Monday's Physics examination.

In a press release issued yesterday evening, the Ministry of Education announced that the Controller of Examinations of the Sylhet Education Board, Professor Bilkis Yasmin, had served show-cause notices on the four teachers responsible for moderating the Physics (Theory) First Paper question.

Those issued with the notices are: Professor Mujibur Rahman, Department of Physics, Sreemangal Government College; Assistant Professor Kazi Junaid Al Amin, Department of Physics, Brindaban Government College; Assistant Professor Mosaddek Hossain Khan, Department of Physics, MC College; and, Lecturer Mohammad Helal Uddin, Sylhet Government Model School and College.

This year, the HSC examinations are being conducted using a common question paper across the country's nine general education boards. At present, examinations in every subject comprise two components: multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and creative questions.

Each education board maintains a panel of chief trainers, commonly known as master trainers. Shortly before the examination period begins, four teachers are selected from this panel to prepare questions for each subject. Working independently and under strict confidentiality, each examiner prepares an individual set of question papers and submits it to the board in sealed envelopes.

Subsequently, four moderators confidentially examine each set of questions. They are authorised to amend, supplement or, if necessary, prepare an entirely new question paper.

Once the moderation process is completed, all four sets are submitted to the Controller of Examinations and securely stored by the education board.

A senior official of the Dhaka education board told Prothom Alo that although a common question paper is being used this year, a total of 36 sets of question papers were prepared for the nine general education boards. Later, the chairpersons of the boards selected four sets through a lottery. Two of these were sent directly to the Bangladesh Government Press (BG Press) for printing, while the remaining two were retained in reserve for use if required.

Following printing, the question papers are distributed to districts and upazilas under the supervision of the local administration. In district headquarters, they are stored in the general treasury, while at the upazila level they are usually kept at police stations. Responsibility for ensuring the secure handling and proper delivery of the papers at the upazila level rests with the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO).

The Dhaka education board official further explained that, at 9:10 am on each exam day, the president of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee selects, by lottery, which question paper set will be used and immediately informs the chairpersons of all education boards.

The district administrations are then notified, after which the designated paper is distributed for the examination. Consequently, no one has prior knowledge of which particular question paper will ultimately be used. As a result, even if a question paper contains an error, it is virtually impossible to identify it before the examination begins.

According to a source within the education boards, the Physics question paper in which the errors were identified had been prepared by the Sylhet Education Board.

Errors in public examination question papers have occurred on numerous occasions over the years.

Commenting on the matter, Professor SM Hafizur Rahman of the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University told Prothom Alo that there are clearly defined guidelines governing the preparation of both multiple-choice and creative questions.

However, various studies have shown that, when preparing creative questions, examiners do not always align the questions appropriately with the prescribed cognitive levels.

He therefore stressed that far greater vigilance is required throughout both the question-setting and moderation processes.

In his view, the education boards should undertake more rigorous assessments of the competence of those entrusted with preparing and moderating examination papers and take whatever measures are necessary to strengthen the system.