Lottery-based admission will remain for first grade, while students seeking entry to higher classes will have to sit for admission tests.
High Court. Photo: Courtesy
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High Court. Photo: Courtesy
The High Court has dismissed a writ petition seeking to reinstate the lottery-based admission system for classes 2 to 9 at schools across the country, clearing the way for the government to hold admission tests for those grades.
Under the existing arrangement, lottery-based admission will remain in place only for first grade, while students seeking admission to classes 2 to 9 will have to sit for admission tests.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Shikdar Mahmudur Razi and Justice Fatema Anwar passed the order today (15 November) after holding a preliminary hearing on the writ petition.
On 16 March, the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education issued a circular scrapping the lottery-based admission system for classes 1 to 9 at government and private secondary schools across the country.
The ministry later issued a revised notification clarifying that admission tests would be held for classes 2 to 9, while the lottery system would be retained for first grade.
On 7 October, Minhaj Uddin Ahmed, executive director of the Movement for Human Rights and Good Governance Foundation, filed the writ challenging the 16 March circular and seeking the reinstatement of lottery-based admissions.
The petition was initially listed for hearing before a High Court vacation bench on 14 October but was subsequently removed from the cause list. It was later placed before a regular High Court bench this month, leading to today’s hearing.
Advocate Zahidur Rahman Talukdar represented the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Noor Muhammad Azmi appeared for the state.
Following the filing of the writ petition, the petitioner’s lawyer Zahid Talukdar said the government had introduced digital lottery-based admissions in 2021 for students seeking entry into classes 1 to 9 at government schools nationwide, replacing admission tests.
He said the BNP government scrapped the lottery system after coming to power and decided to reintroduce admission tests.
Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon announced the decision at a press conference on 16 March, when the ministry issued the circular abolishing the lottery-based system.
A subsequent revised notification specified that admission tests would apply to classes 2 to 9, while lottery-based admission would be retained for first grade.
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