Action on institutions with zero pass rate soon, positive changes to be visible: Education Minister

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has said that steps will soon be taken against educational institutions where no student passed this year’s SSC (Secondary School Certificate) and equivalent examinations, adding that positive changes will become visible.

Speaking about the review of examination results, the minister said that in the past, result re-scrutiny was largely limited to checking whether marks had been added or deducted correctly.

“But this time, through legal changes, we have ensured an opportunity for each student's answer script to be properly re-evaluated. If a teacher failed to award the appropriate marks during assessment or made an inadvertent error, the script will be thoroughly reviewed before an experienced review committee. The candidate will be awarded the marks they are entitled to,” he said.

The minister made the remarks on Monday morning while inaugurating the publication of this year’s examination results at the Ministry of Education.

Regarding institutions with a zero pass rate in this year's SSC and equivalent examinations, the minister said, “When we were in charge of the Ministry of Education from 2001 to 2006 and eliminated cheating from examination centres through strict measures, the number of institutions with zero passes initially increased by around four to five times. But through sustained and rigorous monitoring, we were subsequently able to bring that number down successfully and raise the overall pass rate from 28 per cent to 77 per cent. We have that experience.”

“Today is only the day the results have been published. We will start taking action on institutions with zero passes very soon, and you will see positive changes as a result,” he added.

The education minister said candidates would now have the opportunity to have their answer scripts re-examined or re-evaluated.

“Until now, if a candidate was dissatisfied with their result, they could request a re-scrutiny, in which only errors in adding up the marks awarded or serious mistakes in assessing an answer were checked. The answer script itself was not re-evaluated afresh,” Milon said.

According to a Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) report, the minister said, “If any candidate has been deprived of the marks they deserved or there has been any error or discrepancy in awarding marks, their answer script will be properly assessed through a review committee.”