Dhaka: Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Thursday said coaching centres across the country will remain closed from on Friday, a week before the SSC and its equivalent examinations scheduled for February 1, aiming to prevent question leak.

He came up with the disclosure while addressing the meeting of monitoring committee on question leak prevention, law and order maintenance and action against those who leak questions through Facebook post.

The coaching centres will remain closed until the end of the tests, he added.  

Students will have to enter and take sits at their respective centres 30 minutes before the beginning of the tests. Envelope of question papers will not be unsealed before 30 minutes of the exams.

‘If anybody violates this instruction, officials concerned will take instant action against the violators’ Nahid said.

Teachers and officers would not be allowed to carry any mobile phone in the exam halls. Only centre secretary will allow carrying normal phone not smart phone, the minister said while talking to reporters.

Education Secretary Sohorab Hossain said the specific exam will be cancelled and fresh one will be taken if the authorities find evidence of question paper leak.  ‘We have taken all kinds of measures to prevent question leak’.

Asked whether Facebook would be closed during the exams the secretary said that the ministry will inform the matter within one or two days after consultation with Facebook authorities regarding the social networking site block in Bangladesh.

During collection of the question papers from treasury office, executive magistrate, centre secretary and other officials concerned must be present. 

Mobile court will be run during the SSC examinations, the secretary said adding that suspicious transection through bKash will be monitored to prevent question leak.

Sheikh Nazmul Alam, joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said on information that advertisement has been posted on Facebook saying that SSC questions will be available, investigation is going on.

‘As this is the year of national election, we have to be aware of question leakage to save the incumbent government from embarrassment,’ the police official added.