* Group division to be introduced in Class XI 

* No annual exams for Classes I-III

The government will scrap Primary Education Completion (PEC) and Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinations from 2023 as per the revised curriculum of the primary and secondary education.

The annual examinations for primary students of classes I, II and III will also not held, but the learners will be promoted based on their continuous assessment.

Public examinations will be held for class X-XII and group division will be introduced at class XI.

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni disclosed the decision at a press briefing at the ministry on Monday shortly after the government approved the new curriculum outline. 

An integrated curriculum will be introduced for classes IX-X students as per the new curriculum.

The group division will be applied for the students from Classes XI and XII, the minister said.

“There will be no PEC and JSC examinations from 2023. The annual exams will start from class IV,” Dipu Moni said.

She said 60 percent evaluation of Bangla, English, mathematics, social science and science for classes IV to VIII will be done through continuous assessment, and the rest through “overall evaluation”. Continuous assessment is also applicable for the rest of the subjects.

Fifty percent evaluation of exams, including public exams of Bangla, English, mathematics, social science and science for classes IX to X will be done through continuous assessment, and the rest through ‘overall evaluation’.

Dipu Moni said students will need to take public exams after class X based on the curriculum of that grade while the students will need to take public exams after classes XI and XII based on the respective curriculum.

“And the final result of HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate) exams will combine the results of exams in classes XI and XII,” she added.

The government will begin implementation of the new curriculum from 2023 in phases.

The education minister said the new curriculum will be tested in a pilot programme in 2022.

“It will be implemented in phases in the primary and secondary level from 2023 and the implementation will be completed by 2025.”

Students of classes 1, 2, 6 and 7 will get new books, based on the new curriculum, in January 2023. Students of classes 3, 4, 8 and 9 will get books in 2024 and students of others classes will get new books in 2025.

Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury and other high education officials were also present at the press briefing.