Bangladesh
School Admission Admissions through lottery system in schools: Dipu Moni
Dhaka, November 25: Education Minister Dipu Moni has said that students in the first to ninth classes will be admitted through lottery due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 'catchment (area based) quota has been increased from 40 to 50 percent in the admission of students in Dhaka educational institutions. In the cluster-based lottery, Dhaka students will have the opportunity to select five educational institutions in one place, she said.
Dipu Moni said this at a virtual press conference on Wednesday regarding the admission of students in secondary level educational institutions.
The minister said, “I have decided to admit every class through lottery to avoid health risks. Fate is being given priority over merit. I have chosen this method out of compulsion.”
Other times students were admitted to the first class through lottery and from second to eighth class through admission test. And even if the students are admitted in the ninth class on the basis of the results of JSC-JDC, this time there is no chance as there is no final examination in the eighth.
The education minister said, “I have looked into three options. One is to take the school admission test. But I don't want to take the risk of bringing students to school and taking admission test."
"I thought about the MCQ system, but even then the students had to come to school. While it is safe for everyone to take the online admission test, it will be difficult to ensure the online admission test for all students, so it did not seem reasonable. Not everyone has internet access, and there are connection problems.”
The entire process of admission in classes I to IX will be informed by December 7, the education minister said.
Explaining the issue, the minister said that in the conventional system, all the meritorious students are concentrated in a few schools only in the academic sense, resulting in a kind of inequality between the schools. It is impossible to eliminate it if the conventional admission process continues.
Such inequality is a major obstacle to the attainment of quality education in a country.
When the prevalence of coronavirus started increasing in Bangladesh, all the educational institutions of the country were closed from March 17. Apart from Qawmi Madrasa, all other educational institutions have been declared closed till December 19.
