On April 26, 2025, The Daily Star hosted the 24th edition of its prestigious O & A Level Awards at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center in Dhaka Bypass Expressway, Sector 4, Purbachal. For English medium students of Bangladesh, this award is the most prestigious recognition for their outstanding achievements in O and A level examinations. The 24th O & A Level Awards had HSBC Bank Bangladesh as the title sponsor. Pearson Edexcel and IDP were the academic and education partners of the event respectively.

Dr Asif Nazrul, Adviser, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Water Resources, were present at the event as the Chief Guests.

The award ceremony also featured inspirational talks by Shahir Chowdhury, Founder and CEO of Shikho; Rahat Ahmed, Founding Partner and CEO of Anchorless Bangladesh; and Ayman Sadiq, Founder and CEO of 10 Minute School. Speeches were also given by Tanmi Haque, Head of International Wealth and Premier Banking of HSBC Bangladesh; Razib Mahbubul, Country Director, IDP Education Bangladesh Ltd.; and Abdullah Al Mamun Liton, Regional Development Manager for Pearson Edexcel, Bangladesh & Nepal.

Photo: Palash Khan

The event started at 9:50 AM with a one-minute silence remembering the victims of the 2024 July Uprising, followed by the national anthem.

In his speech, Mahfuz Anam, Editor and Publisher of The Daily Star, said, "If you are going to be the nation-builders of tomorrow, you must first love your nation. You have to love your country, your people, your culture, your religion, and all of what you stand for. If you don't, you cannot be the nation-builders of tomorrow."

"There is no substitute for hard work," Anam added. "Many of you will go to the best universities in the world. But throughout your global experience, increase your commitment to come back and serve this country so that we may all feel proud of your achievement. Your achievement must be translated to the nation's achievement." 

Photo: Prabir Das

The Editor also praised the parents of the awardees and expressed his gratitude for the role they played in bringing their children so far.

Later, in a conversation with Campus, Mini Musharrat Sayeed, the Principal of Juvenile English Medium School, said, "Our students can achieve a lot of things in life but first, they have to be what they want to be."

"You should take your education very seriously. Then, you can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve, and this will motivate you to do better things in the future," she explained.

For students attending the programme, it was a joyous occasion. Rayna Sadat, an awardee and O level graduate from Bangladesh International School and College, expressed her jubilation saying, "It felt really great to be at the programme and receive the award. In the past, I have seen my school seniors and family members getting the award. It is now finally my turn to receive the same award."

The Daily Star has been holding the O & A Level Awards every year since 1999. It has been a very prestigious programme that all English Medium students look forward to. This year, the programme recognised the extraordinary achievements of 2,375 students from 112 schools around the country. Among them, there were 1,824 O level awardees – including 67 World Highest achievers and 62 Country Highest achievers – and 551 A level awardees – including 15 World Highest achievers and 32 Country Highest achievers.