The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations for 2016 will begin from April 3. The education ministry published the routine for the examinations on its website yesterday.  Usually, the HSC and equivalent examinations begin on the first day of April every year but this year the date has been changed, as April 1 is Friday. According to the schedule, the theory exams will start from April 3 and continue until June 9. The practical exams will be held from June 11 to 20. The examinations will begin at 10am and end at 1pm. The ministry sources further said that multiple choice question (MCQ) examinations will be held before the theory portions of each paper. The examinees will be allowed to use general scientific calculators. However, programming calculators are not allowed in the exam halls. According to the ministry sources, there might be some  changes in the exam schedules as the Election Commission is set to hold union parishad (UP) election in April.