Can a school disqualify a student from taking SSC exams for failing test exams?

This year, all 382 candidates who appeared in the SSC examination from a school in Narsingdi secured GPA-5.

There were 485 students in Class 10 at the school. Of them, 103 students who failed the test or selection examination were not allowed to sit for the SSC examination. The remaining 382 students took the examination, and all of them secured GPA-5.

After discussions surrounding the matter began, the Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board sought an explanation from the school to determine whether any irregular strategy had been adopted.

But can a school prevent a student from taking the SSC examination simply because the student failed the test examination? What do the education board's rules say in this regard?

15 Years of a 100 Percent Pass Rate

The school at the centre of the discussion is Nasima Kadir Molla High School and Homes in Narsingdi. The school was established in 2008.

Since 2012, the institution has maintained a 100 percent pass rate in the SSC examinations for 15 consecutive years.

During this period, all students who took the secondary examination in 2015, 2017, 2022 and 2025 secured GPA-5. The trend has continued at the school this year as well.

This year, all 382 students who appeared for the SSC examination from the school secured GPA-5.

Over those 15 years, a total of 153 students from the school received Talentpool and General category scholarships in the secondary examination.

According to the list of results published by the school, it ranked 10th under the Dhaka Education Board in 2015 and was described as the "best institution in the country" in various subsequent years.

Why Is the School Facing Complaints Despite This?

The school has now come into the spotlight because of a "show-cause notice" served by the Dhaka Education Board.
After the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination were published on August 10, reports appeared in various media outlets about Nasima Kadir Molla High School and Homes once again achieving a 100 percent pass rate, with all its successful candidates securing GPA-5. The issue was also widely discussed on social media.

Many alleged that, in order to increase the rate of GPA-5 results and maintain its record, the school does not allow many students to sit for the SSC examination in the first place.

When the matter came to the attention of the Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, it issued a notice to the school on August 16 seeking to verify the facts and obtain the institution's explanation.

The order, signed by the board's School Inspector, Dr Md Masud Rana Khan, said that Nasima Kadir Molla High School and Homes had been accused of "adopting irregular strategies to achieve a 100 percent GPA-5 rate" in this year's SSC examination.

To this end, the institution was instructed to appear in person within seven working days and explain the reasons behind the allegations, along with the necessary documents, including information on enrolled students, students registered in Class 9, students who took the SSC selection examination, and students whose forms were filled out for the SSC examination.

BBC Bangla tried to contact the school's head teacher, Md Iman Ahmed, by phone throughout Tuesday, but he did not respond.

However, BBC Bangla was able to contact the school's assistant head teacher, Mohammad Kamal Hossain. He said the school would respond to the allegations with supporting evidence.

He advised BBC Bangla to speak to the head teacher if it wanted to know more.

However, the head teacher told the local English-language daily The Daily Star yesterday, "We are aware of the show-cause notice. Of our 485 students, 103 failed the test examination, so they were excluded and 382 students were given the opportunity to sit for the final examination. All of them secured GPA-5. A group is spreading misinformation about this. There is transparency in all our activities. We will respond to the board within the stipulated time."

What Former Students of the School Say

BBC Bangla spoke to several former students of the school. They did not want their names disclosed for various reasons.

One of them alleged that he was supposed to sit for the SSC examination from the school this year. However, he failed Physics by two marks in the school's test examination. As a result, he left the school and sat for the examination from another school.

He claimed that he and many of his classmates secured GPA-5 after taking the examination from other schools.

Asked why he had failed the school's examination, he said, "The questions in the test examination are not set according to the board standard. They teach students from Class 1 to Class 10. Then, whenever they feel that a student will not be able to secure an A+, they declare the student failed and tell the parents, 'Keep your daughter in the school for another year. We will not allow her to fill out the form this year.' They use these excuses to hold back students."

Asked whether they had their test examination papers reviewed again, he replied in the affirmative and said, "We saw that we had failed by two or three marks. Then we said, if the board evaluated these answer scripts, they would have given us two or three more marks."

"Then they said, 'We do not evaluate answer scripts like the board does.' One or two students even pleaded with them to let us sit for the examination. But the teachers said, 'You won't get an A+, so what is the point of passing you?' Their rule is that as many students as they allow to sit for the examination, all of them must get an A+."

The student further said that after failing the school's test examination held last November, they lodged a complaint with the district administration in January this year. The following day, the district administration informed them that the failed students would be given another examination. They subsequently sat for examinations in several subjects at the office of the district administration.
The former student said the district commissioner had assured them that those who passed that examination would be allowed to fill out the forms for the SSC examination. He further claimed that the district commissioner called the head teacher in their presence, but the head teacher said they would not be allowed to fill out the forms.

Another former student of the school also claimed that he had failed Higher Mathematics in the school's test examination, which meant he could not sit for the SSC examination from there. However, he stood first in the examination held at the district commissioner's office. He later sat for the examination in the Science group from Narsingdi Sunbeam School and obtained GPA-5.

The students alleged that the school's monthly tuition fee is Tk 2,300. There are also other fees. According to them, students do not achieve good examination results simply by studying at school. They are required to take private lessons throughout the year from the school's designated teachers.

Meanwhile, the district commissioner referred to by the students is Mohammad Anwar Hossain. He is currently serving as the Commission Secretary of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Speaking to BBC Bangla, he said, "The school's position was that they were failing. So I wanted to see whether they were actually failing or not. Many of them were failing. A few were also passing. I then requested that those who had passed could be considered. Later, I learned that they had left the school after taking transfer certificates."

Mr Hossain further said, "At that time, I told them that how many students get A+ is not our concern. They should teach in such a way that not a single student fails."

What Are the Education Board's Rules on Test Examinations?

According to the prevailing rules in Bangladesh, schools conduct test or selection examinations before the SSC examination to assess students' academic preparedness.

Under the official regulations of the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Boards, passing the selection (test) examination is one of the main prerequisites for filling out the SSC examination form.

The board's examination-conduct regulations state, "After completing the Class 10 curriculum at a board-approved school, a student registered with that board will be considered eligible to sit for the SSC examination from their own school."

It also clearly states, "Only students with valid board registration who have passed the selection examination will be allowed to fill out the examination application form."

In a special order issued by the Dhaka Education Board in 2018, strict instructions were given regarding the non-admission of students who failed one or more subjects in the SSC and HSC selection examinations to the final examinations.

To ensure transparency, the order also made it mandatory for schools to preserve the answer scripts of the selection examination for at least six months after the publication of the results.

On this issue, Chattogram Education Board Examination Controller Professor Dr Parvez Sazzad Chowdhury told BBC Bangla, "According to the board's rules, students have to pass the test examination. But many institutions have the intention of deliberately showing students who will not get GPA-5 as having failed, so that they cannot fill out the examination forms."

Describing the practice as an "unhealthy competition," he said, "The board does not rank institutions and has not done so for the past three years. But institutions do this to portray themselves as the best. If they establish themselves as the best, they will attract the best students. They can charge higher tuition fees."

He believes that when students of an institution fail the test examination, questions arise about the teaching capabilities of the institution's teachers. It also raises the question of why students who were allegedly not performing well were promoted to higher classes after collecting tuition and other fees from them for years.

Mr Hasan also said that even if a student fails the test examination, the institution has the authority to give the student the test examination again, including multiple retakes.

Source: BBC Bangla