Students who failed this year’s Secondary School Certificate examinations have demanded supplementary exams by the end of 2026, allowing those who pass to enrol in Class XI without losing an academic year.
If the exams cannot be held this year, they want the government to allow them to enrol in college immediately while preparing for supplementary exams next year.
The demands were made at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday under the banner of SSC 2026 Students’ Rights Movement Bangladesh.
Students argued that one failed examination should not deny students another chance to prove themselves.
Of the 18,29,485 candidates who sat this year’s SSC and equivalent examinations, 6,90,608, or 37.75 percent, failed, according to results published on August 10. Another 4,585 passed following re-scrutiny in September.
On October 10, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Education Mahdi Amin said the government was considering allowing students to retake failed subjects within three months instead of waiting a year, but cautioned that implementing the system this year could be difficult.
Two days later, Dhaka Education Board Chairman Prof Syed Akhtaruzzaman said introducing supplementary exams for the 2026 SSC was impractical, citing the need for new policies covering question preparation, examinations and college admissions. The boards were seeking to introduce the system next year.
On October 13, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon said the government planned retests within 15 days of SSC results being published for students failing up to two subjects. He did not specify when the system would begin.