A total of 1,270,583 students are starting their Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations.
The examinations are being held at 2,697 centres across the country, starting at 10am on Thursday.
The sky over Dhaka has been cloudy since the early morning, with rain starting as soon as the clock struck 8:30am. Candidates were seen rushing to the capital’s Banani Vidyaniketan School and College centre through the morning shower.
Examinees were allowed to enter the exam centre from 8:30am to 9:30am after strict searches. Even after that time, a few candidates were seen allowed inside.
Md Shahin was waiting outside the centre with his daughter, an examinee from BAF Shaheen College.
He said, “We arrived before 9am. There wasn’t a lot of traffic in the morning. There was a bit of rain, but it didn’t cause us much trouble.”
Md Mortaza Bashir had also brought his daughter, a student at the same college, to the centre for her exam. He said, “I got stuck for a while because of the rain, but my daughter was able to enter by 9:30am.”