Digital Discipline Drive: Minister Launches Anti-Cheating Campaign Ahead of SSC Exams
This year’s SSC and equivalent examinations will begin on April 21 and continue until May 20. To make Cumilla—once recorded as having widespread cheating in higher education—free from malpractice, Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon has launched an awareness campaign involving stakeholders.
People of the region, which leads in educational attainment, aspire to establish engineering and agricultural universities in Cumilla through the implementation of a divisional structure.
On Saturday, April 4, at the Cumilla Shilpakala Academy, Members of Parliament from the region made this demand during an exchange meeting with center secretaries of the Cumilla Education Board, madrasa, and technical education boards regarding the SSC and equivalent examinations 2026.
Presiding over the meeting, Cumilla-6 constituency MP Monirul Haque Chowdhury, the Education Minister, speaking as the chief guest, said that the 1980 law is being updated to prevent cheating digitally. Female candidates will also be searched in separate rooms to prevent malpractice. Anyone found cheating in any examination will be brought under legal action. At the same time, maximum importance will be given to technical and vocational education for human resource development. To detect cheating, each educational institution will allocate Tk 100,000 for installing CCTV cameras in examination halls. Financial assistance will be provided where necessary. To ensure there are no loopholes in the system, IPS facilities must be installed, and all class records must be preserved.
Referring to past anti-cheating measures, the minister said that the late Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s “keep it up” encouragement still resonates. Addressing teachers, he said they are performing “Sadaqah Jariyah.” “Educational institutions are my places of worship. One must come here in a state of purity. Dishonesty has no place here.” He added that in the current year, MPO status of any school will not be canceled due to a zero percent pass rate.
At the beginning of his speech, the minister sought insights from senior journalist Shaheen Hasnat, a key figure in the anti-cheating movement. Hasnat described it as “a new chapter of a pending revolution,” noting that people had even lost their lives over the collection of cheating materials, which he termed shameful. He urged student organization leaders to motivate students to attend classes regularly to uncover and address hidden issues.
In his remarks, Cumilla-6 MP Monirul Haque Chowdhury said he had previously been embarrassed after submitting a letter from the principal of Victoria College—once at the top in cheating—to the minister. He alleged that students in the institution study out of compulsion and that the college is now in decline. He claimed the education system suffered its greatest deterioration during the previous government, with widespread corruption. “Cheating is not initiated by students but by teachers. Teachers also need reform,” he added.
Cumilla-9 MP Abul Kalam emphasized establishing Cumilla as a division to pave the way for job-oriented and technology-based universities in the region.
Cumilla-10 MP Mobashwer Alam Bhuiyan stated that party leaders should not be appointed as presidents of schools and colleges.
Deputy Commissioner Reza Hasan said that, learning from past experiences, all centers have been brought under CCTV surveillance to ensure safe examinations.
Cumilla Board Chairman Professor Md. Shamsul Alam stated that comprehensive measures are being taken to prevent digital cheating. Chairman of the Technical Education Board, Engineer Ruhul Amin, proposed increasing the current 17–19 percent student participation in technical education.
Superintendent of Police Md. Anisuzzaman expressed hope for an education system free from auto-pass practices.
Among others, Cumilla-5 MP Jasim Uddin, Brahmanbaria-5 representative M A Mannan, Madrasa Education Board Chairman Mia Mohammad Nurur Haque, Cumilla City Corporation Administrator Yusuf Molla Tipu, and others also spoke at the event.
DBTech/IH/MUM/OR
