Many colleges in Cumilla might fail to get eligible students

Female students at a college for girls

Cumilla, Aug 3: The Cumilla Education Board, which oversees 468 colleges across the districts of Cumilla, Feni, Noakhali, Lakshmipur, Chandpur and Brahmanbaria, is heading into a critical admission season.

A total 259,260 seats are available for Class XI, but just 106,581 students passed the SSC examination under the board in 2025, leaving over 150,000 seats potentially unfilled this year.

The drastic shortfall is attributed largely to widespread failure in mathematics. These vacancies have triggered concerns that many colleges, particularly in rural areas, may struggle to attract students, and some might even close if enrolment remains weak.

Notable institutions like Cumilla Cadet College and Feni Girls Cadet College accept only their own students and thus will see no outside admissions.

Parents and students have indicated that top city colleges—Cumilla Victoria Government College, Cumilla Government College and Cumilla Education Board Model College—remain the most sought after.

Meanwhile, principals from urban colleges believe colleges offering high quality teaching will still manage to admit a reasonable number of students, even in this crisis.

Humayun Kabir Masud, principal of Cumilla Commerce College, said that this year’s exam was conducted on a much more level playing field, which exposed the genuine educational standard of students across the board.

Dr. Jahangir Hossain Majumder, Deputy College Inspector of Cumilla Education Board, added that over 19,456 students who passed in 2024 failed to be admitted this year due to reasons such as early marriage, poverty, migration abroad, or transfers to other boards; many of these students have dropped out.

The online admission process began on July 30 and continues through to August 11, with an application fee of Tk 220.

The results of Stage 1 applications will be released on August 20, and confirmations will follow from August 22-23.

A second admission stage opens from August 23 to 25, with results on August 28 and final confirmations by August 30.

Students who retook the SSC and obtained revised results may submit applications on August 13–14, and the deadline for changing preference order is August 15.

Unless the authorities intervene or students significantly change their preferences, many colleges—especially rural or lower tier institutions—face an unprecedented enrolment crisis that may threaten their future operations. - UNB