HSC supplementary exams: Allegations of extra fees for form submission

The process of filling in forms for supplementary examinations of candidates, who failed in a maximum of two subjects (excluding the fourth subject) in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations, is currently under way.

However, allegations have emerged that candidates are being charged extra fees in the name of form submission.

In this situation, the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee has said that no candidate may be charged any additional fee for filling in examination forms.

If this instruction is not followed, legal action will be taken against the heads of the institutions concerned and the institutions themselves. The committee issued this warning in a notice dated 5 November.

The supplementary examinations will begin on 1 December. Both regular and irregular candidates will be eligible to sit them. The opportunity is being offered to candidates who failed in a maximum of two subjects.

Form submission for the examinations began on 5 November and will continue until 9 November. The deadline for payment of fees is 10 November.

The form submission fee has been set at Tk 125 for each theoretical paper or subject and Tk 25 for each practical paper or subject. In addition, the examination centre fee is Tk 450.

At present, if a candidate fails in one or more subjects in public examinations such as the SSC and HSC, they must sit the examinations again a year later, in the following year.

In that case, they may sit examinations only in the subjects they failed, or choose to retake all subjects. However, students have to wait a full year because they failed in just one or two subjects.

This time, the education authorities have decided to hold another examination within a month for candidates who failed in a maximum of two subjects.

The results of this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations were published on 31 October. A total of 422,905 candidates failed in one or two subjects. Of them, 298,040 failed in one subject and 124,865 failed in two subjects.