No college for over 2 lakh yet

Although the government has completed the second phase of the class XI admission, more than 2 lakh students could not yet get admitted to any college, much to the frustration of these young learners and their guardians and teachers.

Officials of Dhaka Education Board, which is coordinating the admission, said they received 11,56,224 valid applications this year, and around 9.37 lakh students got admitted to various colleges so far.

Utterly disappointed and worried, many admission seekers said they obtained GPA-5, the highest feat, in the SSC examination but could not make it to any college.

They also said they were uncertain about getting admitted to their preferred colleges as most of the reputed institutions do not have vacant seats.

Amid such realities, the third phase of the admission process begins today. In this phase, the students who did not get admitted even after being nominated in the first two merit lists or were not nominated in any of the two lists can apply online till tomorrow.

The students have to mention five preferred colleges, said Prof Abu Bakkar Siddiq, chairman of Dhaka Education Board.

"We will publish the list on July 11, specifying their colleges for admission. The nominated students can get admitted on July 12 without any late fee," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

He reiterated that all the students would be able to get admitted.

His assurance, however, could not appease the anxious students and the equally concerned guardians. Many of them went to the Dhaka Board office at Bakshibazar yesterday with various problems.

"I have got GPA-5 in the SSC exam and I gave five names of my preferred colleges. But I did not find my name in neither of the two lists," said Sohel, a student from Old Dhaka.

"I don't know where I would get admitted. Even I am not sure whether there is any seat left in second choice colleges... What is the benefit of good results if I can't get to study in a good college?" he said.

More than 52,000 students who did not make it to the second merit list published on Sunday are in a similar situation.

Their names did not come in the first merit list of 10.93 lakh students published June 28 either, and their guardians are more worried.

"My son is asking me where he would be admitted, but I can't answer him. I can't explain what kind of mental pressure I have been undergoing for the last few weeks," said Mohammad Jahangir, a parent.

His son's first choice was Adamjee Cantonment Public School from where he took the SSC test, but his name was not published in any of the list.

"My son would apply tomorrow [today] but we are not sure what is going to happen," he added.

The government this year initiated the admission process for all colleges, madrasas and technical institutions centrally for the first time. It also decided that the education boards would publish a list of the students, specifying the colleges where they are to be enrolled.

But the entire system turned out to be a nightmare for more than 11 lakh admission seekers and their guardians due to inadequate preparations on the part of the government.

The Dhaka Board did not update the data about the seats and other admission-related information. On the other hand, Buet's Institute of Information and Communication Technology, which is responsible for preparing the database, could not make the list of so many students in such a short time.

As a result, the entire process marked by technical glitches delayed the publication of the first merit list by three days.

Though the ministry finally gave the list, the hassles of the students did not end. Many complained of various mistakes in the list and faced troubles in the admission process.

On the other hand, many colleges got only a few students for admission.