The daily postponements are over, and for now, so is the exam schedule. The Bangladesh Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee announced the suspension, until further notice, of all remaining Chattogram Board of Education HSC and equivalent exams due to the devastating floods in the region.
The announcement was made via a press release on Thursday, July 16, just as the previous three-day suspension was set to expire. Instead of another extension, the committee opted for a measure it had resisted all week: an indefinite suspension with no return date.
What Exactly Is Suspended
The scope of the suspension is complete. Under the Chattogram Education Board — and the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board and Bangladesh Technical Education Board institutions within its five districts — every remaining paper of the following examinations will not be held until further instructions:
- HSC (general)
- Alim
- HSC (BMT)
- HSC (Vocational)
- Diploma in Commerce
The committee has announced that the revised schedule for the suspended exams will be published separately at a later date. In the meantime, exams for all other education boards—as well as exams for madrasa and technical boards in districts outside the Chattogram Board—will proceed according to the previously announced schedule.
The committee chairman and president of the Dhaka Board of Education, Professor Syed Aktaruzzaman, has asked institutions, test takers, and all those involved to take the necessary steps following this decision.
The Four Reasons — Including One the Boards Hadn’t Said Before
The press release lists four considerations justifying the decision: the overall situation in the flood-affected areas, discussions with stakeholders, the difficulties caused by the disruption of transportation routes due to the floods in reaching the examination centers, and, above all, the physical and mental state of the test-takers.
This last point deserves special attention. During a week of protests, one of the students’ most frequent arguments was that those in shelters, wading through floodwaters, and losing their books to the deluge were not in any condition—physically or mentally—to take the exams. For the first time, this argument appears, virtually verbatim, in an official statement from the examination board.
From One Day to Three Days to Indefinite: How We Got Here
The Chattogram Board’s exam calendar has been unraveling for more than a week, and the trajectory tells the story of a crisis that kept outrunning the response:
- July 8: The English Second Paper postponed across the board’s five districts as heavy rain battered the region
- July 11: The ICT exam suspended the day it was scheduled, with the flood situation worsening
- July 12: A blanket suspension announced covering the July 13, 15 and 16 papers
- July 16: With the region still reeling, the board abandons dated extensions altogether — all remaining papers suspended indefinitely
Each earlier step assumed the water would recede on schedule. It didn’t. The indefinite suspension is, in effect, the board conceding that no one can currently promise Chattogram’s examinees a safe exam date — so it will stop pretending to.
Why This Matters Beyond Chattogram
Here’s the domino effect many are overlooking: Under the government’s five-point package announced this week, students in the other 59 districts who were unable to take exams due to flooding will have their make-up exams held concurrently with the Chattogram Board’s postponed exams, on the same date and with the same questions. This means that all flood-affected students across the country are now expecting the same, as-yet-unannounced, schedule. When the Chattogram Board’s revised schedule is finally released, it will be one of the most eagerly awaited announcements of this exam season.
Most likely, in line with standard practice for exam boards, the postponed exams will be held after the main national schedule has concluded, allowing time for the region to recover and for roads to reopen.
What Chattogram’s Examinees Should Do Now
For the lakhs of candidates under the Chattogram Board, our practical advice:
- Don’t stop preparing. The exams are postponed, not canceled — every syllabus you finish now is pressure removed from the compressed schedule later
- Expect a tighter calendar. When the revised routine comes, the gaps between papers may be shorter than the original routine — prepare accordingly
- Follow only official channels — the board’s website and notices carried by verified news outlets. Fake “new routine” images are already circulating on Facebook, as they always do
- Take care of yourselves. The board itself has now acknowledged your mental and physical condition as grounds for suspension. Use this pause to recover, not just to study
We will publish the revised schedule as soon as the boards announce it, along with the retake arrangements for students affected by the floods across the country. To Chattogram students and their families: this pause is for your safety. Stay strong and stay with us.
