Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon on Sunday said the government was determined to bring English-medium O Level and A Level education into the mainstream and align it more closely with the national education system.
“I wanted to bring English-medium education under regulation before, but for some reason it could not be done,” he said at a seminar at a hotel in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka.
The seminar focused on expanding public university admission opportunities for students following national and international curricula and ensuring a fair and inclusive environment in higher education.
The minister expressed concern over the limited participation of English-medium students in Bangladesh’s public universities, pointing to the barriers they face in gaining admission.
Recalling a recent experience, he said only two of nearly 1,000 students attending an orientation programme at Jahangirnagar University had an English-medium background.
“This can hardly be good news,” he said.
Holding public universities and the University Grants Commission (UGC) equally accountable for the low admission rate, Milon said neither could avoid responsibility.
He noted that many English-medium graduates had previously risen to prominent positions in the country and demonstrated their abilities. However, he questioned why fewer such students appeared to be contributing to national development today.
“We have to find out why English-medium students are failing to contribute to the country,” he said.
Participants discussed policy, structural and procedural barriers that students following international curricula encounter when seeking admission to higher education institutions.
Key issues included eligibility for public university admission, equivalence of O Level and A Level qualifications, application procedures and whether admission tests adequately reflect the academic preparation of students from different curricula.
Speakers stressed the need to ensure fair opportunities for students from all educational backgrounds while maintaining merit-based selection and academic standards.
They also explored ways to make admission procedures more transparent, accessible and inclusive, taking into account differences in course content and assessment methods between national and international curricula.
The discussion also covered admission opportunities for international-curriculum students at medical colleges, engineering universities and other higher education institutions.