A writ petition has been filed with the High Court challenging the government’s decision to introduce admission tests at schools across the country for the 2027 academic year.
The Movement for Human Rights and Good Governance Foundation has sought to retain the lottery system instead of holding admission tests.
Supreme Court lawyer Zahid Talukder filed the petition on Wednesday on behalf of the organisation’s Executive Director Minhaz Uddin Ahmed.
The petition names the education secretary, the secretary of Primary and Mass Education, the director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), and a DSHE deputy secretary as respondents.
According to the petitioners, the government introduced a digital lottery system for admission to classes I to IX at government schools nationwide for the 2021 academic year, replacing admission tests.
After the BNP government came to power, it scrapped the lottery system and decided to reintroduce admission tests.
Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon announced the decision at a press conference on 16 March.
The Education Ministry issued a gazette notification the same day cancelling the lottery system.
A subsequent amended notification said admission tests would be held for classes II to IX, while admission to class-I would continue through a lottery.
The decision triggered debate over school admissions at government and private secondary schools.
Some educationists expressed concern that admission tests could fuel the coaching business and put additional pressure on young children.
Zahid Talukder said the decision to scrap the lottery system was not based on adequate research, data or proper assessment.
He alleged that the government took the decision unilaterally without sufficient consultation with stakeholders.
“Introducing admission tests at the school level will increase social inequality,” he said, arguing that children from low-income families could be disadvantaged because their families cannot afford coaching or private tutors.
“If implemented, the decision will increase corruption, nepotism and inequality. We do not want young children to grow up carrying the burden of admission tests every year,” Zahid said.
Kabir Alamgir, spokesperson for the petitioning organisation, said lottery-based admission systems are used in countries including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Ireland.
He said some countries also provide school admission opportunities on a cluster basis.
Bangladesh should retain the lottery system as well, Kabir said.
He claimed that admission coaching businesses have already started operating in different parts of the country, including Dhaka. Children are now preparing for their annual examinations and admission tests simultaneously, creating additional pressure on them, he said.
“We do not want to turn children into guinea pigs in the name of admission tests,” Kabir said.
He also said children in urban areas are increasingly confined indoors, while many playgrounds have been occupied.
Instead of putting children under pressure with admission tests, they should be given the opportunity to spend their childhood in a joyful environment, he said.
