Govt to End School Admission Lottery from Next Year

The government has decided to abolish the lottery-based admission system for schools from the next academic year, ending a process that has been in place for several years.

Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon announced the decision at a press conference held at the Ministry of Education Bangladesh on Monday.

The lottery system was first introduced for admissions to Class I in government schools to ensure a transparent and fair selection process. Beginning with the 2011 academic year, government secondary schools that had primary sections were required to admit students to Class I through a lottery instead of holding admission tests.

In 2012, the same method was extended to private schools. At that time, however, admissions to Classes II through IX continued to be conducted through written examinations.

The system was expanded further during the outbreak of COVID-19. To avoid large gatherings and maintain public health safety, the government introduced the lottery-based admission process for all classes in the 2021 academic year.

Since then, students have been admitted to schools across the country through the lottery system regardless of grade.

With the new decision, the government plans to discontinue the method from the next academic year, paving the way for a revised admission process for schools in Bangladesh.