Hundreds of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinees staged demonstrations across the capital yesterday, initially dropping the demand calling for the resignation of the Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, only to backtrack amid what they said was authorities’ failure to meet their other points.
They threatened to take to the streets again on Thursday if their one-point demand – resignation of the education minister – was not met.
The protests began after students completed their scheduled examinations.
Groups of examinees gathered at Science Laboratory intersection, Uttara and Savar, where they blocked roads for a brief period, disrupting traffic and causing congestion in several parts of the capital.
At Science Laboratory, protesters assembled around midday before marching towards the Secretariat.
Travelling through the Dhaka University area, they reached the Shikkha Bhaban at around 4:00pm, where police had erected barricades to prevent them from advancing further.
The students remained outside the building, chanting slogans and demanding talks with government officials.
A separate group of protesters in Uttara also blocked roads before joining the march to the Education Ministry.
The demonstrations followed protests held the previous day over the conduct of the ongoing HSC examinations.
Students expressed frustration over examinations being held despite heavy rain and widespread waterlogging, alleged errors in the Physics First Paper question paper, and what they described as insensitive remarks made by Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon about protesting students.
While the movement initially demanded the minister's resignation, the protesters later withdrew that demand and instead presented a six-point charter, urging the government to address their concerns through reforms rather than administrative changes.
Among their demands were optional re-examinations for candidates who sat tests under adverse weather conditions, with the higher score to be counted; full marks for erroneous questions; a brief suspension of the examination schedule to ease students' mental stress; fair evaluation of answer scripts in light of changes to question patterns; and ensuring a student-friendly examination environment.
They also called for an apology over the police baton charge on protesters outside the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban a day earlier.
The students maintained that their movement was peaceful and unaffiliated with any political party or organisation.
Earlier in the day, Education Minister Milon said candidates who missed examinations due to adverse weather or other unavoidable circumstances would be allowed to retake the papers.
The protesters ended the day's programme in the evening after marching from Shikkha Bhaban towards Shahbagh, where they held a brief sit-in before dispersing around 8:30pm.