Education minister's claim that 'no disaster hit anywhere except one Cumilla college' is misleading

What was claimed?

As criticism mounted over Bangladesh's 2026 HSC and equivalent exams being held during heavy rain and waterlogging, Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon told Parliament that, in effect, no real disaster had occurred anywhere except one college in Cumilla, where the college field had flooded. He added that wherever water rose elsewhere, it was "not much," happened in "just a handful" of places, and centres were changed immediately.

The private broadcaster DBC News aired the remark under the headline, "No disaster occurred anywhere except one college in Cumilla." (DBC News, Parliament report) That card is what spread most widely on social media. The problem is that the statement does not match the record.

Verdict: Misleading, why?

The minister used a true fact (one Cumilla college's field flooded) to downplay how widespread the disruption actually was. Over those few days, the crisis was not confined to a single college. It spread across multiple districts and an entire education board.

1. An entire board's exams were postponed

Before the minister spoke, flooding had already forced the Education Ministry to postpone HSC and equivalent exams across five districts under the Chattogram education board until 16 July 2026 ^[1][2]. Not one college's playing field, but a whole board's exams had to be pushed back. That alone is the clearest proof of a major disaster, even as the minister described water elsewhere as "not much" and "a handful."

2. It was not one college in Cumilla, but nearly the whole city

On Monday, 13 July, three straight hours of rain from 6am to 9am submerged large parts of Cumilla city. Roads and even hospitals went underwater, and examinees at the Cumilla Government Women's College centre reached the hall by boat ^[3][4][5]. The issue was not "one college's field," but citywide waterlogging that engulfed multiple centres.

3. Noakhali, Cox's Bazar and hill districts suffered too

The hardship did not stop at Cumilla. In parts of Noakhali, including Hatiya, water around centres obstructed examinees' movement and stranded many families ^[6]. In Cox's Bazar and the hill districts, heavy rain from 7 July triggered flooding and water entered several centres ^[1]. Set against all of this, "no disaster anywhere except one college" does not hold.

So what actually happened?

Laid out as a timeline, the picture is clear.

From 7 July, heavy rain and flooding hit Chattogram, Cox's Bazar and the hill districts. Conditions grew bad enough that, after consulting district administrators, the Education Ministry postponed the Chattogram board's five-district exams until 16 July ^[1][2].

Amid this, on 13 July, three hours of rain drowned Cumilla city. When a video of examinees travelling to the centre by boat went viral, the matter reached the top of government, the centre was changed, and candidates were given an extra 30 minutes ^[4]. The same day, examinees in Noakhali and elsewhere also waded through water to reach their halls ^[6].

The whole picture testifies against the minister's "one college" description.

What did the minister perhaps mean?

Charitably, the minister may have meant that among the boards where exams were still running, the only case severe enough to require a centre change was that one Cumilla college. Even granting that, a sweeping "no disaster anywhere" is not accurate, because the entire Chattogram board's exams were postponed at the same time, and Cumilla's waterlogging did not stop at a single centre.

Why such a statement is risky

A sitting education minister minimising the scale of a disaster is risky. It belittles the real suffering of affected students and parents, weakens institutional accountability, and erodes public trust. Right after the remark, students from several colleges in the capital announced protests demanding his resignation ^[7], showing that the reality on the ground was very different from his account.

Conclusion

The Cumilla Government Women's College episode is real, and it was the most talked-about, that much is true. But "no disaster anywhere except one college" foregrounds a partial truth to hide a bigger reality. Weighed against five districts' postponed exams, Cumilla's citywide waterlogging, and the hardship across Noakhali, Cox's Bazar and beyond, the minister's claim is misleading.