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Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid speaks with an HSC examinee as several others look blankly rattled by the razzle-dazzle of his visit at a test centre in Dhaka.
An uneasy hush typifies an examination room.
But, in sharp contrast, an examination centre in Dhaka on Wednesday was abuzz with the hustle and bustle similar to that of a market place.
The cause of the commotion was the visit of Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid with a large ‘contingent’ of media persons and ministry officials.
He entered room 212 of Viquarunnisa Noon School and College just minutes after the examinations started, oblivious of criticisms such intrusions had drawn in the past.
Photojournalists and television camera crew, who had taken up position outside the room, soon barged into the examination hall, trailing the minister, while about 70 students were writing their papers.
Nineteen TV cameras, a dozen photojournalists, and about 10 reporters thronged the room.
The education ministry’s Joint Secretary AKM Zakir Hossain Bhuiyan, Deputy Chief Information Officer Subodh Chandra Dhali and Dhaka Education Board’s Chairman Abu Bakar Siddik were also there.
Some of the officials did not, however, enter the room. Many of them sat in the teachers’ lounge.
In other public examinations, only camerapersons are allowed to enter any centre with the minister.
Several TV journalists were even seen giving directions to the cameramen inside the examination centre.
A photojournalist went to the extent of requesting an examinee to pose for a picture several times as if he was in the midst of a photo shoot.
Dhali was seen capturing the ‘moments’ on his mobile phone.
Minister Nahid walked around the room with others behind him and spoke to several candidates.
TV cameramen and photojournalists jostled to capture his every movement.
The raucous clearly disturbed the examinees as some of them eyed the minister and those following him with evident discontent.
The razzmatazz lasted for about eight minutes during which Joint Secretary Hossain was heard telling Information Officer Dhali: “It’s becoming too much of a disturbance for a single room.”
Dhali spoke to the minister, who finally left the room after several minutes, followed by the media persons.
He, however, decided against visiting a second room, saying, “We have seen in one room how boys and girls are doing. So, I won’t visit another.”
The minister thanked the reporters for being at “his and the students’ side” while briefing them at the school gate.
He defended his decision to visit the examination hall.
“We visited a classroom [to see it for ourselves]; otherwise, we’d have had to speak [about the examination situation] on the basis of hearsay,” Nahid said.
He had earlier assured that the students would not be disturbed during his visits.
“Board officials said the examinations were being held without any trouble,” he said. “The exams schedule will not be changed even if there are blockades and shutdowns.”
About 1.1 million students are sitting for the tests across Bangladesh.
Source: Bd news24
