Dhaka, Aug. 10 -- Examiners can sing "with all their heart", but they cannot award marks the same way, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon said as Bangladesh posted its lowest SSC pass rate in 19 years.

"You can sing with all your heart, but you can't give marks with all your heart," Milon said at a press briefing at the Secretariat on Monday.

This year, 62.25 percent of SSC and equivalent examinees passed, down 6.2 percentage points from last year. The number securing GPA-5 also fell to 116,676 from 139,032.

The exams were held on the full syllabus and for full marks. For the first time, every centre was placed under CCTV surveillance, while police deployed there wore body cameras.

Asked whether the tighter monitoring had cont...