Sarjis Alam, one of the coordinators of the Anti-discriminatory Student Movement, has said the decision to cancel the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations is unreasonable.
"Those who had sought cancellation of the HSC and equivalent exams do not know how to evaluate merit.
The exams had to be taken. The decision to cancel the tests is illogical," he told the media while visiting the injured at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday.
He alleged that many people took to the streets with unreasonable demands to cause instability.
The student movement coordinator said the announcement of long marches by several organisations on the first day of their protests was irrational.
It would have been reasonable if they had contacted the Anti-discrimination Student Movement before making such decisions.
"They may have different purposes. We will not cooperate if they get into trouble for questionable programmes in the future.
"The government should be given time. In the next one year, we can heal the wounds and move towards a new path," he said.
Another coordinator Hasnat Abdullah said the HSC candidates who had stormed the Secretariat on Tuesday confined all officials, including the education secretary.
Therefore, the decision to cancel the remaining examinations was taken in consultation with the secretary, education advisor and the chief advisor.
"We never support the cancellation of exams. Because a student's assessment is not possible without a test."
Hasnat said the eliminating examinations mainly discourages talented students who have diligently studied throughout the year.
"Accordingly, we would like to see such a decision never repeated under pressure or for any other reason."
Referring to the protests by several groups across the capital, Hasnat urged the people to allow time for the government, saying "it's not possible to heal 16-year-old wounds in 16 days".
"Now, if you seek to exploit the crisis period to cause instability, we will consider it an attempt to discredit the interim government."
He highlighted the structural processes in making demands and said the first step should be discussions at the table, followed by street protests.
"However, if they resort to strikes first, we will urge the government to take legal action against those who seek to disrupt state functions, identifying them as beneficiaries."
—bdnews24.com
