HSC students stage protests in six districts demanding Edu Minister’s resignation

Students of HSC and equivalent exams staged protests and blocked roads in at least six districts across the country on Tuesday demanding that the Education Minister resign for holding exams despite floods and waterlogging.

The affected districts include: Dhaka, Bogura, Mymensingh, Barishal, Cumilla and Chattogram.

Students and others have been venting anger against Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon after he allowed HSC and equivalent exams to continue on Monday, when different parts of the country, including the capital, went underwater amid heavy rains and flash floods.

The minister ignored the plight of the students amid the inclement weather and also did not pay heed to repeated calls for exam deferral, they alleged, demanding a suspension of the exams across the country until the weather improves.

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In Dhaka city, students blocked the Science Lab intersection around 11am, and later moved to Shahbagh intersection and the Dhaka University (DU) area, where they also protested near the prime minister’s vehicle convoy.

Facing police obstruction near the VC square at DU, they shifted their demonstration to the Dhaka Education Board in Bakshibazar. Around 4pm, they enforced a second blockade at the Science Lab intersection.

In Chattogram city, hundreds of students took position in front of the main gate of the Chattogram Education Board around 11am. The demonstration created acute gridlock on the CDA Avenue. Around 12pm, they entered the board premises, where officials assured them of meeting their demands.

Since the morning on Tuesday, students blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in Uttara in the capital, Dhaka-Barisal Highway in Barisal, and Mymensingh-Tangail Highway in Mymensingh. Different forms of demonstrations were also staged in Bogura, and Cumilla.

Officials at the Education Ministry and the Inter-Education Board Examination Controllers’ Committee have said that they are giving priority to the students’ demand, even though field-level flood-related data does not point to the need for such a suspension.

The Inter-Education Board Examination Controllers’ Committee would hold an in-person meeting over the matter, and a decision will be announced by 4pm Tuesday, said the committee’s President Syed Akteruzzaman.

Students have also criticised Ehsanul Hoque Milon over the inclusion of two apparently faulty questions in the Physics exam. Students have also claimed that the unified question papers, introduced for the first time in this year’s exams, are too difficult compared with previous times.