Bangladesh HSC re-evaluation draws 291,209 students seeking review of 1.08 million answer scripts

A massive wave of re-evaluation requests has followed this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examination results in Bangladesh, with 291,209 students seeking a review of more than 1.08 million answer scripts across the country's 11 education boards.

Students have applied for re-scrutiny of 1,087,413 answer scripts after failing to secure their expected grades in the results announced on October 31, highlighting widespread dissatisfaction with examination outcomes. The Dhaka Education Board received the highest number of applications, with 335,879, followed by Chittagong with 117,700. Rajshahi recorded 109,971 applications, Jessore 97,618, Comilla 92,776 and Dinajpur 89,420.

Other boards also reported substantial demand for re-evaluation, with Mymensingh receiving 71,762 applications, Barisal 53,409, Sylhet 51,243, the Madrasah Education Board 40,830 and the Technical Education Board 26,806. The scale of the requests comes against the backdrop of a particularly challenging examination year, with students recording poor performances in compulsory subjects, including English, Bangla and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman, president of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, said the examination and assessment systems had been made fully objective and impartial over the past two years. He maintained that answer scripts had been evaluated according to prescribed standards, using the same assessment method adopted last year. However, he acknowledged concerns over the high failure rates in several compulsory subjects, saying education boards had already begun examining the reasons behind the poor performance.

Teacher shortages, particularly in ICT, were among the major concerns identified by the authorities. "Many colleges do not have sufficient ICT teachers. Even in government colleges, teachers from other disciplines are assigned to teach ICT due to the absence of subject-specific teachers," Akhtaruzzaman said.

English and ICT attract highest scrutiny requests in Dhaka

The Dhaka Education Board's subject-wise figures reveal the extent of students' dissatisfaction across Science, Humanities and Business Studies, with English and ICT attracting the largest number of re-evaluation requests.

English First Paper and Second Paper each received 42,002 applications, while ICT recorded 38,075. Bangla also attracted considerable demand, with 24,858 applications each for First Paper and Second Paper. Among Science subjects, Chemistry recorded the highest number of applications, with 18,482 each for its First and Second Papers. Biology followed, attracting 15,757 applications for each paper. In the Humanities group, Civics and Good Governance received 3,571 applications each for First Paper and Second Paper, while Social Work recorded 1,997.

Accounting emerged as the most sought-after subject for re-scrutiny in the Business Studies group, with 3,827 applications each for First Paper and Second Paper. Business Organization and Management received another 2,331 applications. The overall HSC and equivalent examination results paint a challenging picture. According to the Ministry of Education, the pass rate across the 11 education boards stood at 52.12 per cent.

Of the 1,240,798 candidates who appeared for the examinations, 646,685 passed, while 40,084 secured GPA-5. The deadline for submitting re-scrutiny applications was noon on November 8.

SSC re-evaluation raises expectations of corrected results

The large number of HSC applications also comes after significant changes were recorded in the re-evaluation of this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examination results.

Of the 1,829,485 candidates who appeared for the SSC examinations under the 11 boards, 402,052 applied for re-scrutiny, covering 1,287,926 answer scripts. The subsequent review resulted in 4,585 students who had initially failed being declared successful, while another 3,079 candidates improved their results to GPA-5.

The outcome has heightened expectations among HSC candidates seeking corrections to their marks and grades. Education board authorities have also signalled that negligence or serious inconsistencies in answer script assessment will not be overlooked. Akhtaruzzaman said more than 100 examiners and chief examiners had been identified for significant deviations in marking during the SSC re-evaluation exercise. Diagnostic assessments were being conducted in those cases, with recommendations for disciplinary action being forwarded to the Ministry of Education.

He said similar action would be recommended against HSC examiners and chief examiners if the re-scrutiny process uncovered unjustified marking or substantial discrepancies in awarded marks. The authorities will primarily assess possible negligence by examining the difference between students' original marks and their revised scores after re-evaluation.

How Bangladesh will review more than one million answer scripts

The Inter-Education Board has outlined a multi-stage process to handle the huge volume of HSC re-scrutiny applications.

After receiving applications through the online system, the boards will collect the relevant data from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).The Computer Cell will then prepare and distribute lists containing answer script details and subject-wise information to the concerned sections. Examiners will be appointed for the review, and the relevant answer scripts will be collected from chief examiners.

The appointed examiners will begin the re-evaluation process after receiving a briefing on the assessment procedures. Once the review is completed, signed assessment statements and answer scripts carrying revised marks will be forwarded to the Computer Cell. The cell will enter the updated marks and verify the corresponding litho codes before conducting a final check. The re-scrutiny results will be published after the verification process is completed.

Dhaka Board begins re-scrutiny exercise

The Dhaka Education Board has already started reviewing answer scripts from this year's HSC examinations.

The exercise began on November 11, with examiners and concerned officials participating in the process. It is scheduled to continue until November 17, from 9am to 5pm daily, at the Higher Secondary Examination Section on the seventh and eighth floors of Building 4.

Senior System Analyst Engineer Md Monjurul Kabir said the board would handle the processing of hundreds of thousands of online applications and associated data with utmost care. He said the board's ICT team was closely monitoring the entire exercise to prevent inconsistencies in the revision of marks. For the 291,209 students awaiting the outcome, the review represents an opportunity to have their examination performance reconsidered.

The final results will determine whether the concerns raised through more than a million re-scrutiny requests translate into meaningful changes in their grades.