Examinees demand re-conduct, cancellation of exam

Examinees demanding the re-conduct of the primary assistant teacher recruitment examination staged a protest by surrounding the Primary Education Department in Mirpur on Sunday, alleging massive irregularities and question paper leaks in the recently held examination.

The protesters raised five key demands, including the immediate cancellation and re-conduct of the assistant teacher recruitment exam, conducting all job examinations in Dhaka with device checkers and network jammers at every centre, formation of an independent examination oversight committee, prohibition on assigning question setting responsibilities to institutions previously involved in question leaks, and ensuring maximum punishment for all those involved in any proven leak, along with the resignation of the head of the question setting institution within 24 hours.

The candidates also demanded that multiple examinations should not be held on the same day and at the same time, arguing that such practices compromise transparency and administrative control.

The protest followed widespread allegations of question paper leaks in the assistant teacher recruitment exam held on January 9 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm in 61 districts across the country, excluding three districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. More than 1 million 80 thousand candidates participated in the examination.

Rumours of question leaks began circulating on social media several days before the test, with many users reportedly sharing the leaked questions on Facebook. The candidates alleged that some of the questions in the actual exam were identical to those circulated online two days earlier, strengthening claims of prior leakage.

According to the protesters, the question papers were dispatched to district level authorities on December 25, while the examination was conducted nearly two weeks later, allowing sufficient time for the papers to fall into the hands of organised syndicates.

The demonstrators asserted that unless decisive legal and administrative action is taken against those responsible, public confidence in the integrity of government recruitment examinations will continue to erode.