The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations for this year began peacefully across Bangladesh on Thursday. The first day’s exams were held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. under 11 education boards, with 24,784 students absent nationwide. The highest rate of absenteeism was recorded under the Madrasa Education Board. Seven students were expelled for cheating and other reasons, though no teachers faced expulsion.

The exams started with Bangla First Paper for general and technical boards and Qur’an Majid for the madrasa board. A total of 1,270,583 students from 9,439 institutions are participating at 2,697 centers, an increase of 22,766 from last year. According to the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, 17,233 students were absent under the nine general boards, 4,478 under the madrasa board, and 3,073 under the technical board.

This year, all general boards are using a unified question paper. Written exams will continue until August 8, followed by practical tests by August 15. To prevent question leaks, special security measures have been implemented, including CCTV surveillance for the first time in the country’s history.