The Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations began on Sunday when downpours brought woes to the candidates in Dhaka and Chattogram cities amid water stagnation, shortage of transports and traffic congestion.
The exams started across the country on the day except in Sylhet division as the education ministry earlier postponed the examinations there till July 8 following the worsening flood situation.
In Sylhet division, no examinations were held in 87 exam centres under the Sylhet education board, in 26 centres under the madrassah education board and 27 centres under the technical education board, said education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury on Sunday at a press conference.
He also said that from July 9, the examinations in the Sylhet division would continue as per schedule and soon the schedules of the deferred exams would be published.
The ministry had a plan to hold the HSC and equivalent exams in April from next year, he added.聽聽
Since morning, rain started in the capital and continued through the day.
As the exams were scheduled to start at 10:00am, candidates were seen rushing to the exam centres which were set to close 30 minutes before the start of exams.
Incessant rains, meanwhile, caused water stagnation in different areas of the city, including in Malibagh, Khilgaon, Shantinagar and Moghbazar.
Examinees and their parents and guardians terribly suffered across the city amid rain, water stagnation, fewer public transports and traffic gridlock.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Chattogram reported that many areas, including Agrabad, GEC, Muradpur, Katalganj, and Bahaddarhat, were waterlogged and examinees were seen wading through knee-deep water to reach the exam centres amid shortages of vehicles.
Zakir Hossain Road and Khulsi areas saw a bad traffic congestion stranding vehicles for hours.
The Chattogram Met Office reported 70.6mm of rain between 3:00am to 3:00pm on Sunday, said assistant meteorologist Ujjal Kanti Pal.
Next three days the quantity of rain would increase, he said, while saying that the incessant rain increased the risk of land slide in the city.
鈥榃e received news that candidates at some places especially in Dhaka and Chattogram faced difficulties to reach centres due to temporary water stagnation,鈥� the minister said at the press conference.聽
Mohibul said that they instructed the centre secretaries to adjust time where some candidates reached late.
鈥楥onsidering tomorrow鈥檚 situation we will take decision about the next exam to be held on Tuesday,鈥� he added.
Last year also the HSC and equivalent exams, which were scheduled to begin on August 17 under eight boards, were deferred by 10 days under the Chattogram, madrassah and technical education boards caused by a flood situation.
On Sunday, the examinations kicked off with the Bangla first paper under nine general education boards, Bangla under the Technical Education Board and Quran Majid under the Madrassah Education Board.
All coaching centres across the country will remain closed from June 29 to August 11 in a bid to prevent cheating and rumours of question paper leaks.
