No test, just a toss - school admission a game of luck

 

UNB photo.

The Ministry of Education has announced that admissions to both government and private secondary schools across the country will once again be conducted through a lottery system for the upcoming 2026 academic year.

The decision was made on Wednesday at a meeting chaired by Rehana Parvin, Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Education Ministry.

Officials from the ministry’s secondary division, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), and the Dhaka Board of Secondary and Higher Education attended the meeting. Following the meeting, Professor Dr. Khondoker Ehsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, told reporters that after considering various aspects, it was decided that school admissions will again take place through the lottery system. The matter will be officially announced soon.

An official from DSHE, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that some parents had demanded a return to entrance exams, and a few even organized human chains. However, it is not possible to abolish the lottery system at this stage. Any change to the process must be announced at least a year in advance, and the interim government does not want to take that risk.