Lottery Retained for Class I Admissions After PM Meeting; Entrance Exams for Classes 2–9

The Ministry of Education has officially reversed its earlier decision to introduce entrance examinations for Class 1 admissions, opting instead to maintain the existing digital lottery system for the upcoming academic session. The policy shift was confirmed following a high-level closed-door meeting between Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr. A. N. M. Ehsanul Hoque Milon at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday afternoon.

The consultations also addressed student admissions across classes one through nine, alongside the review of the retirement benefit board and welfare trust fund disbursements. The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister's Advisor on Education, Dr. Mahdi Amin, and Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Abdul Khaleq.

The reversal comes months after Dr. Milon announced in March that the lottery-based admission method would be scrapped in favor of formal admission tests. That initial announcement generated widespread anxiety among parents, prompting many to enroll young children in private coaching centers and hire home tutors for exam preparation. Although the minister subsequently clarified that any assessment would be nominal, parental concerns persisted, leading the ministry to abandon the proposed admission tests for Class 1 entirely. Entrance exams for classes 2 through 9 will continue to be administered as before.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior Ministry of Education official told The Daily Campus, "There will be no admission test for Class 1. Student intake will continue through the lottery system as conducted previously."

The digital lottery system was originally introduced in government primary schools in 2011 to eliminate admission irregularities and curb reliance on commercial coaching centers. On March 16 this year, the ministry announced plans to phase out lottery-based admissions for classes 1 through 9 by 2027 to implement a revised admission policy following stakeholder consultations. However, the latest review has scaled back those plans for the entry-level grade.

According to the Annual Primary School Statistics 2024, a total of 3.546 million students were enrolled in Class 1 across various primary institutions nationwide, comprising 1.748 million boys and 1.799 million girls. The continued reliance on the digital lottery aims to ensure a stress-free entry point for millions of young learners entering the formal education system.