HSC examinees blocked roads in Chittagong on Tuesday, demanding changes to the ongoing examination schedule due to severe weather.
Students from several colleges gathered at the city's Sholashahar area around noon, disrupting traffic as they pressed a three-point demand.
The protesters said continuous rainfall has made it difficult to sit for examinations. Many students reportedly became ill, while rain damaged calculators, admit cards and other essential documents. They claimed the current examination arrangements fail to consider the hardships caused by the adverse weather.
The students called for the postponement of the ongoing HSC examinations until weather conditions improve. They also demanded fresh examinations for candidates who were unable to attend tests on July 12 and 13 because of bad weather. In addition, they urged the education board to quickly issue replacement documents for students whose admit cards or other required papers were lost or damaged by rain.
The protesters also demanded that HSC examinations be conducted with a common question paper nationwide and that no discriminatory decisions be made for any particular region.
Security was tightened around the Chittagong Education Board during the demonstration. Law enforcement agencies remained deployed in the area to maintain order.
No official response from the education authorities regarding the students' demands was immediately available.
