Seven visually impaired students from Chattogram’s Rahmania High School have failed to pass this year’s SSC examinations after being forced to submit blank answer sheets on the first day due to the unavailability of scribes. While six of them attended all remaining exams with scribes, none managed to secure a passing grade, losing an academic year in the process.

The issue unfolded on 10 April, the first day of the SSC exams, when the seven students sat for the Bangla First Paper at the Bangladesh Mahila Samiti Girls’ High School exam centre.

However, due to the absence of approved scribes, they were unable to write a single word and eventually left the hall without attempting the paper.

Later, their guardians approached both the Chattogram Deputy Commissioner’s Office and the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, demanding a retake of the missed exam. They were reportedly assured by education board officials that the issue would be dealt with compassionately. 

However, those assurances never translated into action.

Of the seven students, six – Habibul Haque, Minhaz Uddin, Lucky Akter, Md Badsha, and twin siblings Rupsa Khanam and Md Maruf – took the rest of their exams with scribes but ultimately failed to pass. Habibul, in particular, failed both Bangla First Paper and Mathematics, while the others failed in Bangla First Paper only.

The problem stemmed from policy restrictions surrounding scribes.

According to board guidelines, scribes assisting SSC candidates must not be enrolled above Class 8 and must be under 18 years old. The students had arranged scribes beforehand, but these individuals were either SSC candidates themselves or senior students and hence disqualified. 

When the decision to disallow them was conveyed just before the exams, the guardians were left with no time to arrange alternatives.

During yesterday’s (10 July) press briefing on SSC results, Chattogram Board Controller of Examinations Parvez Sajjad confirmed, “There were seven visually impaired students who couldn’t answer anything in the Bangla First Paper exam due to the scribe issue. Though they used scribes in the Bangla Second Paper, none of them managed to score enough to compensate for the missed paper. As a result, they have failed.”

Habibul’s mother, Sharmin Akter, said, “We had arranged scribes in advance, but my son couldn’t appear properly for the first exam due to negligence from the school and the education board. The board had promised to consider the issue compassionately, either by allowing a retake or adjusting the result, but they failed us.”

“I’ve been fighting for my son for 16 years, and so have the other parents. Now, because of the board’s failure, our children have lost a year. Their spirits are broken,” she added.

Meanwhile, 13 students from Haldiyapalong Adarsha Bidyapith in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, under the same board, also missed the first exam due to form fill-up complications. 

However, they were allowed to start from the second day, and six of them successfully passed using their Bangla Second Paper scores to compensate for the missed paper.

Explaining the special arrangement, Controller Parvez Sajjad said, “We took a special initiative to process their forms and allowed them to sit for the exam from the Bangla Second Paper. Their results include adjusted scores, and they passed both Bangla papers.”