A legal notice has been sent to the government seeking to keep the publication of the 2025 Primary Scholarship Examination results on hold, terming the allocation of scholarships between government and private school students discriminatory.
The notice was sent via email on Thursday by Supreme Court lawyers Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallab and Mohammad Kawser on behalf of the human rights organisation Law and Life Foundation Trust.
The notice names the Secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and the Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education as respondents.
It requests the removal of discriminatory clauses under the Primary Scholarship Examination Policy, 2026, and urges ensuring equal merit-based opportunities for all participating students.
The notice states that the “Primary Scholarship Examination Policy 2026” allocates 80 percent of scholarships to students of government primary schools and 20 percent to students of private schools.
“This creates institution-based discrimination in a national merit-based examination,” the notice says.
Additionally, according to Clause 8.6 of the policy, separate competition arrangements have been made for government and private school students, effectively abolishing a single merit-based evaluation system.
The legal notice argues that such provisions are contrary to constitutional principles of equality and anti-discrimination.
“The division created under the current policy regarding students’ eligibility for scholarships based on the type of institution – government and private – is irrational, discriminatory and arbitrary. Our Constitution does not support such arbitrary division,” the notice reads.
The lawyers have given the respondents three working days to take necessary measures. If no action is taken within that time, further legal proceedings will be initiated in the public interest, the notice warns.
