The Ministry of Education has issued an admission guidelines for government secondary schools for the 2027 academic year.
Under the new guideline, students seeking admission to Class I will be selected through a digital lottery, while admission to Classes II to IX will be based on written tests.
The ministry issued the guidelines on Tuesday. Applicants seeking admission to Class I may list up to five preferred schools. However, if an applicant selects both shifts at a school operating in two shifts, the two shifts will count as two separate choices.
The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) will centrally manage the digital lottery process for Class I admissions.
For Classes II to IX, students will be selected for vacant seats through written examinations, with admission determined by merit ranking. The admission test will carry 50 marks for Classes II to V and 100 marks for Classes VI to IX.
At a press conference in March, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon announced that examinations would replace the lottery system for school admissions. Since then, educationists and other stakeholders have warned that introducing admission tests, particularly at the primary level, could put unnecessary pressure on children. They have also cautioned that it could increase dependence on coaching centres and private tuition, further widening inequalities in the education system. Allegations have already emerged that coaching activities have begun in different parts of Dhaka in preparation for the admission tests.
A subsequent decision was made to retain the lottery system for Class I admissions while introducing examinations for higher classes. Later, discussions were held on whether schools under the Ministry of Education could continue using the lottery system for Classes I to V, as before. However, that proposal was not adopted.
In the past, children had to face intense competition at a very young age in the name of school admission tests. Coaching centres and private tuition were common, and many families turned to coaching centres to secure places for their children in reputed schools. There were also allegations of irregularities, corruption and nepotism in the admission process. As a result, admission to good schools was difficult for many students from ordinary and low-income families. The issue had been widely debated in the media for years.
Against this backdrop, the lottery system was initially introduced only for Class I. From the 2011 academic year, government secondary schools offering Class I were required to admit students through a lottery instead of an admission test. The same system was introduced in private schools the following year. However, admissions to Classes II to IX continued to be conducted through examinations.
Later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the lottery system was introduced for all classes for the 2021 academic year. The practice continued thereafter. The latest guidelines now marks a change to that arrangement.