Record SSC re-scrutiny applications raise fears over timely review

A record surge in applications for re-scrutiny of this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination results has sparked concern among students and parents over whether all answer scripts will be reviewed properly and within the stipulated timeframe.

Jannatul, one of the applicants, is worried that her answer script may not receive adequate scrutiny as the number of applications this year is several times higher than in the past five years.

According to data from the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, 402,051 students have applied for re-scrutiny of their SSC results this year. As many students applied for multiple subjects, a total of 1,287,926 answer scripts have been submitted for review. 

The huge volume of scripts has already raised questions about whether they can be re-scrutinised within such a short period.

Speaking at an event, Education Minister Ehsanul Haque Milon said reviewing such a large number of answer scripts within a limited timeframe would be ''almost impossible''.

He also said new guidelines would be formulated in this regard.

The minister’s remarks have heightened anxiety among students and parents, who fear that the unprecedented workload could affect the quality of the re-scrutiny process. 

However, Prof Dr Syed Akhtaruzzaman, chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, said every answer script submitted for re-scrutiny would be reviewed.

He also said students whose results change after the re-scrutiny would be given additional time to apply for admission to colleges.

Applications for admission to Class XI are scheduled to open on September 2 and continue until September 10. The results of the SSC re-scrutiny may be published after September 10.