Teacher Arrested Over Student Marking SSC Scripts

A senior school teacher and a secondary school student have been arrested in Cumilla after a video allegedly showing the student marking Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination answer scripts sparked widespread criticism and prompted legal action.

The arrests were carried out on Saturday night during a raid in the Abdullahpur area of Debidwar Upazila. The suspects are Md Bacchu Mia, a senior teacher who has been serving as the acting headmaster of Abdullahpur Haji Amir Ali High School, and Mehedi Hasan, a Class 10 student at the same institution.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Shahin Alam, who oversees the Debidwar Circle, confirmed the arrests, saying they were made in connection with a case filed over the incident.

The controversy began after a video circulated on social media showing Mehedi Hasan sitting inside a classroom and evaluating SSC 2026 General Science examination answer scripts. According to the allegations, the designated examiner did not personally assess the papers but instead allowed the student to carry out the marking process.

The footage quickly attracted public attention and raised serious concerns about the integrity of the public examination system. As the video spread across social media and was subsequently reported by various news outlets, the matter came to the attention of the Ministry of Education.

Under Bangladesh’s public examination regulations, answer scripts must be assessed only by authorised examiners appointed through the education board. The evaluation process is considered confidential and plays a critical role in ensuring fairness and credibility in national examinations. Any unauthorised involvement in script marking is regarded as a serious breach of professional and academic standards.

Following the emergence of the video, Education and Primary and Mass Education Adviser Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon instructed the relevant authorities to conduct a prompt investigation and take appropriate legal action.

Acting on that directive, the Deputy Controller of Examinations of the Cumilla Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education filed a case with Debidwar Police Station on Saturday. Both acting headmaster Md Bacchu Mia and student Mehedi Hasan were named as accused in the case.

Detectives from the Cumilla District Detective Branch launched an operation later that night and arrested the two individuals.

Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Shamsul Alam Shah of the Cumilla Detective Branch said the arrests were made under the instructions of higher authorities based on the allegations outlined in the first information report. He added that the legal process is continuing.

The incident has fuelled debate within the education sector over the need for stricter oversight of examination procedures. Education experts argue that maintaining transparency and accountability in the assessment process is essential to preserving public confidence in Bangladesh’s national examination system.