Staff Correspondent

Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations in the Sylhet division will no longer be postponed and scheduled to start on July 9 as planned as the flood situation in the division has been improved.

Sylhet Education Board Chairman Rama Bijoy Sarkar confirmed the information on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the board, the exams in four districts of Sylhet division had been postponed until July 8 due to the flooding. The exams were initially supposed to begin on June 30. However, as the flood situation has now improved, the exams will be held as per the original schedule starting July9.

According to principals of several colleges and local residents in Sylhet and Sunamganj, the floodwaters have started receding and it is anticipated that the situation will return to normal by July 8. Some centers are still being used as shelters, but it is expected that these will be vacated before the exams commence.

Flood-affected individuals indicate that 24 wards in Sylhet city and 13 upazilas in the district have been inundated due to the flood. Many candidate's homes have been submerged, disrupting their studies. While the situation has not yet fully returned to normal, many villages remain flooded, isolating people from the upazila centers and various other villages.

Nevertheless, if there is no new heavy rainfall or upstream flooding, the situation is expected to normalize before July 9, they expect.

Officials from the Education Board reported that 82,795 candidates from 309 educational institutions in the entire division will take the HSC exams this year, including 33,590 boys and 49,205 girls. The district-wise breakdown is 35,620 in Sylhet, 15,664 in Sunamganj, 16,508 in Moulvibazar, and 15,003 in Habiganj. There are 87 examination centers in total, with 33 in Sylhet, 22 in Sunamganj, 14 in Moulvibazar, and 18 in Habiganj.

The Board further stated that due to the postponement until July 8, the exams for four subjects—Bangla (Compulsory) Paper I, Bangla (Compulsory) Paper II, English (Compulsory) Paper I, and English (Compulsory) Paper II—will be rescheduled.

However, from July 9 onwards, the exams will be held as per the original timetable, starting with the Information and Communication Technology (Compulsory) exam on that day.

Chairman Rama Bijoy Sarkar mentioned that a new schedule for the postponed exams will be issued soon, likely within the next week. However, the exams scheduled from July 9 will be conducted as per the pre-existing timetable.

The flood situation in Sylhet and Sunamganj began with heavy rainfall and upstream flash floods on May 29. The situation started to improve after June 8 but worsened again with continuous rain from June 17, causing a second wave of flooding in 24 wards of Sylhet city and 13 upazilas of Sylhet and Sunamganj.

Consequently, the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee issued a notification postponing the HSC, Madrasa, and Technical exams in the Sylhet division until July 8. The situation is now improving.