Dhaka, June 26 -- Over 1.25 million students from 11 education boards across the country are sitting for the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent exams on Thursday amid concern over rising COVID-19 and dengue cases across Bangladesh.

The exams kicked off with the Bangla First Paper at 10am.

The written exams under general and madrasah boards will continue until Aug 10, while practical exams are scheduled from Aug 11 to 28. Under the Technical Board, theoretical exams will end on Jul 17, with practical exams slated from Jul 18 to 24.

The number of examinees under the general education boards totals 1,055,398 students from 4,808 institutions. The madrasah board has 86,102 candidates, while 109,611 students are taking vocatio...