Staff Correspondent

This year's tenth grade students will have to complete their academic syllabus within one year instead of two years and the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations in 2026 will be held with a revised and shortened syllabus.

This information was revealed by National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) recently.

In previous years, students were participating in the SSC and equivalent exams by following the syllabus of classes 9 and 10 under the old curriculum.

Following the syllabus formulated in 2012, the groups - Science, Humanities and Business Studies - will be reinstated.

Students will decide which groups they will take in the 10th grade this year. After choosing groups, students will follow the reinstated curriculum and prepare themselves for the SSC and equivalent exams within one year.

The NCTB has fixed the question types, exam time and marks for the 2026 SSC examination.

The subjects in the 2026 syllabus will carry 70 marks in the essay section and 30 marks in the multiple-choice section. The subjects having practical tests will carry 75 marks in the theoretical section and 25 marks in the practical section.
NCTB Chairman Professor Dr AKM Riazul Hasan told BSS that they started working in a very short time and in an unstable situation.

After the July Revolution, the textbooks and examination system under previous curriculum had to be suspended in face of the demands of teachers, guardians and students. The books that were taught earlier had to be revised, he added.

"We were able to revise 441 books in just two and a half months," he said.

The NCTB chairman said: "We did not compromise on providing quality and standard books to students."

"To fulfill the promise made by the government to provide quality books in a short time, we had to fight with the printing press," he added.

He said the number of forma in books has increased due to the return of groups (Science, Commerce and Humanities).

"There are 33 books in all groups. As a result, the number of forma has increased sharply. As a result, an additional allocation of about Taka 700 crore was taken," he added.

He said that at the beginning of the year 2025, about 10 crore books reached the hands of students on January 1.

"If there is no artificial crisis of book art paper (hard board for book binding) this month, it is possible to reach about 80 percent of quality books across the country by January 20," he added.

He said that the current government is aware of the SSC candidates who will appear in 2026 SSC examination.

NCTB hopes that all students of class 10 will get their textbooks by January 5, he said.

Books are being printed in the army's printing presses using the Direct Purchase Method (DPM) aiming to provide books to 10th grade students quickly, he said.

He said a sample of the short syllabus, marks distribution and class routine for class 10 students is available on the NCTB website.

While talking to BSS, NCTB Curriculum Committee Member Professor Robiul Kabir Chowdhury said that Class 10 students will take the SSC exam in February 2026.

Since it will not be possible to complete the two-year syllabus of Class 10 in 2025 in one year, we customized the syllabus for them, he added.

"This customized syllabus has been made for a total of 33 subjects. Based on this syllabus, class 10 students will participate in the 2026 SSC examination. In order to take this examination, they will have to follow the 2012 curriculum," he added.

Creative question system has been kept and some new items have also been added in books, he said.

In the case of Bengali subject, two essay questions have been kept along with short questions to increase their skills in writing, he said, adding that a new chapter named ' Amader Gourob Gatha' has been introduced in class 10.