Staff Correspondent:

The 2026 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) pre-selection and selection exams have been postponed by more than a month after the syllabus was changed and students in Class 10 received their textbooks a bit late.

The pre-selection exams were to start on Jun 24, but will instead begin Sept 1. The selection exams to be held from Oct 16 have been postponed to Nov 20.

The Secondary and Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education has revised the holiday list and syllabus for secondary and lower secondary schools accordingly.

On Tuesday afternoon, Rahima Akhtar, deputy secretary of the department’s Government Secondary Branch “A notification has been issued to revise the holiday list and syllabus for the SSC pre-selection and selection exams, slightly delaying the dates.”

When asked whether the pre-selection and selection exams have been post poned due to the change in the curriculum and the delay in getting books for Class 10 students at the beginning of the year, she said, “This decision has been taken in view of the proposal of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education to keep the overall education running smoothly.”

According to the holiday list and calendar issued on Dec 23, the pre-selection exams for Class 10 were supposed to be held from Jun 24 to Jul 10.

However, according to the new announcement, the pre-selection exams will be held from Sept 1 to Sept 16, and the results will be published on Sept 30.

The Class 10 selection exams were also supposed to be held from Oct 16 to Nov 3. But now, according to the new announcement, the exams will be held from Nov 27 to Dec 11. The results will be published on Dec 30.

However, the half-yearly and final exam timings for students of Classes 6 to 9 remain unchanged. According to the previous announcement, the half-yearly exams will be held from Jun 24 to Jul 10, with the results published on Jul 27.

The final exams will start from Nov 20 and continue until Dec 7. The results of the final exams will be published on Dec 30.

Under the Awami League government, a new curriculum began to be implemented in 2023. In 2024, the education stream system was abolished and the implementation of the new curriculum began for students in Class 9. The new curriculum saw significant pushback from parents, with many particularly unhappy about the decision to do away with the different education streams.

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina was ousted from the post of prime minister on Aug 5 and fled to India in the face of a mass movement on Aug 5. An interim government under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge on Aug 8.

On Sept 1, the Ministry of Education announced that the new curriculum was “not feasible” and sent a notice to restore the education streams.

It was also announced at the time that textbooks from the 2012 curriculum would be revised and given to students in place of the new curriculum implemented under the Awami League. Students who were in Class 9 in 2024 will start Class 10 after being divided into the science, humanities and business education streams.

Therefore, new textbooks for Class 10 students were distributed this year.

However, due to delays in the revision process, not all Class 10 students received all their books at the beginning of the year. The distribution process was eventually completed in early February.

Md Hafizur Rahman, distribution controller of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, said, “Ninety-five percent of the Class 10 books were distributed by January. There were a few books left over, but the students received them in early February.”