A total of 10,324 candidates were absent on the first day of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations yesterday while 45 students were expelled for resorting to unfair means.

This year's figure on the first day is higher than the last year's with 9,297 absent and 33 expelled.

More than 11.41 lakh students of 8,104 educational institutions

across the country had registered for the examinations this year.

Ten education boards, including a madrasa and a technical education boards, are conducting the two-mo nth examinations for 2014.

The HSC examinees sat for the Bangla (compulsory) first paper at 10:00am while the examinees under Madrasa Education Board took Quran Mazid.

The candidates in the capital faced difficulties to reach the exam centres due to severe traffic jam yesterday.

The highest number of absentees yesterday was from the Dhaka Board with 2,002 while Barisal Board had the lowest figure with 440, according to the data of Bangladesh Inter-Board Co-ordination Subcommittee.

Among the expelled students, 27 were from the technical board while four from the madrasa board, three each from Jessore, Barisal and Dinajpur boards, two each from Dhaka and Comilla boards, and one from Rajshahi board.

The examinees expressed satisfaction over the question papers. However, some said they could not understand those properly.

Meanwhile, allegations of question paper leak were reported in some districts, something Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid denied.

After visiting the capital's Motijheel Ideal School and College centre, he said they would publish the results within 60 days after ending of the exams.