A total of 24,784 candidates were absent and seven were expelled for malpractice on the first day of the 2026 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations held across the country on Thursday.
No invigilator or examiner was expelled, according to statistics released by the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee.
The first day's examinations included Bangla First Paper under the nine general education boards, Quran Majid under the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board and Bangla Second Paper under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board.
The examinations were held simultaneously at all centres across the country, except eight overseas centres under the Dhaka Education Board.
According to the statement signed by Professor Syed Amirul Islam, chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and president of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, 856,097 candidates were registered for the Bangla First Paper examination under the nine general education boards.
Of them, 838,864 appeared at 1,620 examination centres, while 17,233 candidates remained absent, accounting for 2.01% of the total.
Five candidates were expelled for adopting unfair means under the general education boards. Of them, one was expelled under the Cumilla Board, two under the Jashore Board, one under the Dinajpur Board and one under the Mymensingh Board. No candidate was expelled under the Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Sylhet or Barishal boards.
Among the general education boards, the Dhaka Board recorded the highest number of absentees at 3,971, followed by Rajshahi with 2,497, Jashore with 2,078, Dinajpur with 1,937, Cumilla with 1,795, Barishal with 1,346, Chattogram with 1,340, Mymensingh with 1,182 and Sylhet with 1,127.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
