Secondary Admission: Lottery mulled for all schools

Admissions to all government and non-government secondary schools in the coming academic session are likely to be held through a central lottery.

Students have to apply and pay fees online in this regard, proposes the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE).

The DSHE made the proposal to lessen the hassle of students and guardians and "reduce the irregularities" during the admission process at non-government schools, top officials of the directorate told The Daily Star.

"We have made some proposals. The guideline for admissions to the secondary schools is yet to be finalised. The guideline will be finalised soon," Prof Syed Md Golam Faruk, director general of DSHE, told this correspondent.

"We will start the process of filling up and submitting of applications after the guideline is finalised. We are planning to hold the lottery in December," he said.

There are 2,0849 secondary schools in the country and 679 of them are government schools.

Till 2020, schools take fresh students for all classes based on vacancy. They enrol the bulk of students in class-1, and in class-6 on completion of primary education.

Admissions to class-1 take place by lottery all over the country. Students get admitted to class-9 based on their results of Junior School Certificate (JSC) or Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations. Students willing to enrol to other classes need to take admission tests.

A central lottery will take place for students aspiring to enrol in class-1 to 5 at primary schools attached to secondary schools. Normally primary schools admit students from January to March.

In the outgoing year, it was exceptional. School admissions at all schools were based on lottery and central lottery took place for the admission process of government schools only. The decision was taken to avoid health risks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Taking lessons from that, we are planning to hold admissions through lottery," a top DSHE official said, adding that they have proposed introducing lottery for all government and non-government schools. "That lottery will be held centrally."

They made the proposal because many guardians face hassles as they have to travel from one school to another for admission of their children.

"Sometime, allegations of irregularities and corruption surface regarding the admission process at non-government schools," the official said.

The admission process of government and non-government schools will be completed at the same website. It will have two windows for government and non-government schools. The lottery will be held online.

Students can know their admission results through texts. The list of lottery winners will also be sent to the respective schools, said officials.

Each year, several million students get admitted to schools across the country. About 5,74,929 admission seekers collected admission forms against 80,000 seats at government schools this year.