The long-suspended Primary Scholarship Examination has begun across Bangladesh from today, marking its return after 16 years.
According to the schedule released by the Directorate of Primary Education, the exams started at 10:00 am with the Bangla paper, which continued until 12:30 pm on the first day.
The examination schedule was earlier approved on March 5 at a meeting of the National Steering Committee under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, followed by the publication of a detailed routine.
As per the timetable, the exams will continue with:
- English on April 16
- Primary Mathematics on April 17
- Bangladesh and Global Studies and Primary Science on April 18
Each exam will begin at 10:00 am and run for two and a half hours.
However, a different schedule has been set for the three hill districts—Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Bandarban. In these areas, the exams will begin on April 17 with Primary Mathematics, followed by:
- April 18: Bangladesh and Global Studies and Primary Science
- April 19: Bangla
- April 20: English
Authorities have also allocated an additional 30 minutes for students with special needs.
The last full-fledged Primary Scholarship Examination in Bangladesh was held in 2008. The exam was discontinued after the introduction of the Primary Education Completion (PEC) exam in 2009. Although it was experimentally reintroduced in 2022, it remained suspended again in the following years until its resumption this year.
