The Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board has released the schedule for this year’s eighth-grade Dakhil scholarship examination. The exam runs from December 8 to December 15, spanning four days, and includes nine instructions that candidates must follow.
The routine
- 8 December — Quran Majid and Tajweed, and Aqaid and Fiqh
- 10 December — Arabic first paper and Arabic second paper
- 13 December — Bangla and English
- 15 December — Mathematics and Science
Marks and timing
The Quran (Majid and Tajweed), Aqaid, and Fiqh exams, as well as both Arabic exams, have a maximum score of 100 points each and last three hours. Candidates with special educational needs are granted an additional 30 minutes for these exams.
The Bengali and English exams are administered on the same day, but as separate 50-point exams each, lasting one and a half hours. They have different subject codes and use separate answer sheets.
Mathematics and Science follow the same format, with scores of 70 and 30 points respectively, and a duration of 2 hours and 10 minutes for the former and 50 minutes for the latter. Again, they have different codes and separate answer sheets.
The questions are based on the eighth-grade madrasa textbooks, developed by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, following a question structure approved by the Madrasa Board of Education.
Same dates as the junior scholarship exam
This needs saying clearly, because it is the most likely source of confusion.
The scholarship exam for primary school students under the General Board of Education will be held on December 8, 10, 13, and 15—the same four days. The subjects covered are completely different: this exam includes Bengali, English, mathematics, science, and Bangladeshi and global studies.
Therefore, a parent looking for the scholarship exam schedule for eighth-grade students this December will find two schedules with overlapping dates but unrelated subject lists. Both are correct. Only one applies to each student, depending on whether they attend a madrasa under the Madrasa Board of Education or a school under the General Board of Education.
Check which board your child’s institution falls under before you plan anything around either routine.
The nine rules that matter most
- Be seated 30 minutes before the paper starts
- Collect the admit card from your institution head, signed and stamped, at least seven days before the examination
- Fill the roll number, registration number and subject code correctly on the OMR form and shade the circles properly. The answer script must not be folded under any circumstances
- Board-approved ordinary scientific calculators are permitted. Programmable calculators are not
- Nobody except the centre secretary may bring a mobile phone, smart watch, headphones or any other electronic device into the centre
That calculator distinction is worth a moment. Ordinary scientific calculators are allowed, programmable ones are not, and a child arriving with the wrong model has no way to fix it at the gate. Check the machine now rather than in December.
Before December
- Work from the board’s own routine PDF rather than any summary, including this one
- Note that both papers on 13 and 15 December use separate answer scripts. Candidates should expect two scripts, not one
- Keep the folding rule in mind. A creased OMR sheet can fail to scan, and that is a preventable loss of marks
- Form fill-up ran from 2 to 12 September, with online board fees due by 11 September
A clarification regarding sources. To date, only one national daily has followed this practice, and its report presents a count of issues that does not match the newspapers it then lists. Rising Barta has reported the dates and newspapers instead of that count, and readers should consider the editorial board’s own PDF as the authoritative source.
Rising Barta will report the Dakhil class 8 scholarship result date when the board announces it.
