Five officials, including two center secretaries, were withdrawn following the allegations that students were allowed to use notes or textbooks while answering in the HSC examinations at Kachua upazila in Chandpur district on Tuesday (July 2).

Cumilla Education Board`s examination controller took the action, based on a letter from the Kachua Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ehsan Murad on Monday.

The two center secretaries are --Assistant Professor Md. Abul Bashar of Palakhal Rustam Ali Degree College and Principal Md. Habibur Rahman of Nindupur Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir School and College.

Additionally, under the directive of the Chandpur District Commissioner, tag officer Sohel Rana from Nindupur Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir School and College, along with two other teachers on duty, were also withdrawn for the same reason.

However, no action was taken against the students involved.

It was known that on the day of the HSC Bangla second paper examination, in a room at Nindupur Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir School and College center, named after a former MP of Kachua, some students were allowed to use their notes or textbooks, collecting answers from outside, or copying from each other`s answer sheets.

The matter came to the attention when a person secretly recorded a video of these activities and circulated it.

The government-appointed tag officer and Kachua Upazila Secondary Education officer Sohel Rana was in-charge for that exam center on that day and it was alleged that such activities had been occurring in every examinations under his watch.

Nazrul Islam, the principal of Palakhal Rustam Ali College, said that he could not confirm what happened in the exam rooms.

However, he said that the administration has replaced the secretaries of the two centers with new acting secretaries --Assistant Prof Billal Hossain of Palakhal Rustam Ali Degree College and Lecturer Mohammad Mizanur Rahman of Nindupur Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir School and College.

Confirming the matter, Kachua Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ehsan Murad said that an investigation is being conducted by the district administration, and a team from the education board will also investigate the matter.