Education Ministry Backtracks on Exam Decision, Retains Lottery System for Class 1 Admissions

The Ministry of Education has 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 shift comes months after Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Hoque Milon announced in March that the lottery-based admission method would be scrapped in favor of admission tests.

Ministry sources confirmed that the 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 altogether.

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 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 minister announced plans to end the lottery, followed by a ministry notice stating that lottery-based admissions for Classes 1 through 9 would be phased out by 2027 to make way for a revised admission policy following stakeholder consultations.

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.