DSHE warns of action over exam disruptions or non-compliance
The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) today directed all public and private institutions to conduct the scheduled annual, junior scholarship and selection examinations at the secondary level on time.
The directive, issued in a circular signed by DSHE Director Prof Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel, warned that action would be taken against any disruption or failure to comply.
The instruction comes amid uncertainty over examinations, as secondary and school-and-college teachers began a work abstention from today.
Teachers' associations said they would suspend all academic activities, including ongoing exams, unless the government met their demands.
Their key demands include upgrading the entry-level assistant teacher post, establishing a separate Directorate of Secondary Education, filling vacant posts, completing pending promotions, and reinstating certain benefits withdrawn in 2015.
According to the circular, the Ministry of Education fixed the annual examinations for November 20 to December 7, while the selection tests are scheduled from November 27 to December 11. It added that junior scholarship examinations will be held from December 28 to 31 in all lower-secondary, secondary, and school-and-college institutions.
"All concerned are requested to ensure the proper and timely completion of these examinations," it said, adding that any negligence or irregularity in conducting the exams would lead to action under existing rules.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Mohammad Omar Faruk, coordinator of the central committee of the movement and a teacher at Government Coronation Secondary Girls' School, said all classes and examinations had been boycotted since the morning.
"The boycott is underway in government schools across the country. Some schools may have held exams if they did not receive our instruction, but most institutions have suspended tests," he said.
On the government's circular, he said, "When the school authorities themselves postponed examinations yesterday, it is unclear how a late-night or early-morning government order can suddenly become effective. This circular only shows they have taken note of our movement, and it is also an attempt to suppress it."
"There is still time. If the ministry sits with teacher leaders and takes decisions on our demands, only then will we withdraw the movement," Omar Faruk added.
