Error-Filled SSC Questions Raise Concerns; Are Students Getting Auto Marks?

The Dhaka Education Board has assured that candidates will not face academic losses following complaints of multiple errors in the Higher Mathematics question paper of the ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. Board authorities confirmed that corrective measures are being institutionalized to protect the grading outcomes of affected students.

Professor Dr. Khondoker Ehsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, clarified the situation today, Thursday, during an interview addressing the technical oversight.

Mitigating grading damage for examinees

Responding to anxieties over whether students would automatically receive full marks for the faulty segments, Professor Kabir confirmed that the evaluation process will bend in favor of the candidates.

"The scale of structural errors this year is exceptionally minimal; specifically, one core question was technically flawed," the Board Chairman stated. "We will comprehensively investigate why this occurred and identify the personnel responsible. However, I want to reassure students that they will not suffer any academic damage. We are enacting necessary arrangements to address this."

When asked if a specialized probe committee has been formed, Professor Kabir noted that the board’s standing regulatory committee is already reviewing the question structures and will submit a formal evaluative report.

Regarding the exact mechanism for compensation, he added that the board will finalize the distribution of relative marking benefits based on the report findings. He reiterated that the final decision will lean entirely to the students' advantage, following standardized precedents utilized during past examination discrepancies.

Resolving center-level set mix-ups

The Board Chairman also addressed reports regarding the distribution of incorrect question sets across multiple examination centers. He explained that two distinct categories of question papers were printed to cater separately to regular and irregular examinees.

The issue arose when some centers inverted the distribution, accidentally handing irregular sets to regular candidates and vice-versa. Professor Kabir dismissed rumors that outdated question papers from previous years were circulated.

According to board records, the administrative oversight occurred in roughly three out of 501 examination centers under the Dhaka Board. The operational errors were detected within fifteen to thirty minutes of commencement, prompting hall invigilators to swap out the papers and grant equivalent compensatory time to ensure no examinee was shortchanged.

He confirmed that punitive disciplinary actions have already been enforced against negligent center officials, with additional departmental penalties pending clearance from the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE).

Anatomy of the question errors

The higher mathematics examination was conducted nationwide on May 17. Following the session, an analytical review conducted by a panel of five mathematical educators and ten advanced students identified structural errors across three distinct questions, which collectively carried a total value of 12 marks:

• Algebra Section (Question 2, Part C): The printed ratio was set at 2:1, whereas the actual mathematically accurate ratio required to solve the equation should have been 1:4.

• Algebra Section (Question 4, Part C): The proof requirements mistakenly included the integer 5 instead of the correct numerical constant 3.

• Geometry and Vector Section (Question 6, Part C): The word 'quadrilateral' was erroneously substituted for 'trapezium,' rendering the final geometric proof fundamentally impossible to complete under standard mathematical axioms.