College Admissions May Scrap Quotas, Rely Solely on GPA

The government is considering scrapping all quota reservations for Class XI (higher secondary) admissions beginning this academic year, while retaining the existing GPA-based admission system.

The proposal comes after authorities found that seats reserved for the children of freedom fighters have remained largely unfilled in recent years. The proposal also seeks to abolish the 2 percent quota reserved for the children of officials and employees of the Ministry of Education and its subordinate agencies.

The Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee has recommended eliminating all quotas to ensure admissions are based entirely on academic merit and to provide equal opportunities for all applicants.

The proposal was discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Education Adviser Ehsanul Haque Milon on Tuesday. However, because the issue is considered sensitive and of public importance, a broader consultation involving parents, teachers, principals of leading colleges, and other stakeholders will be held later this week before a final decision is made.

Officials who attended Tuesday's meeting expressed support for abolishing both quotas.

According to education board officials, a total of 7 percent of seats are currently reserved in Class XI admissions. Of these, 5 percent are allocated to the children of freedom fighters, while 1 percent each is reserved for the children of Ministry of Education employees and officials working under its affiliated departments.

Experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), which oversees the technical aspects of the admission process, found that the 5 percent freedom fighter quota has consistently failed to attract enough eligible applicants.

Although some applicants have sought admission under the quota as grandchildren of freedom fighters, many were later unable to provide the required documentation, resulting in disqualification. In many cases, students with qualifying GPA scores subsequently lost opportunities to enroll in their preferred colleges.

The committee argues that the quota for Ministry of Education officials and employees is also unjustified and creates unnecessary inequality.

BUET also noted that, according to government records, the minimum age of a recognized freedom fighter is currently over 80 years, making it increasingly unlikely that many would have children seeking admission to higher secondary institutions.

Speaking to Agamir Somoy, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Abdul Khalek said the issue remains under discussion.

“We have held preliminary discussions, but the matter has not been finalized. A larger meeting has been scheduled with parents, teachers, principals of leading colleges, and other stakeholders. A final decision will be made after those consultations,” he said.

Regarding the freedom fighter quota, the secretary said that any unfilled reserved seats are currently filled through the merit list. Nevertheless, he emphasized that the issue requires careful policy-level consideration because of its sensitive nature.

An official who attended Tuesday's meeting said participants generally agreed that the arguments in favor of eliminating quotas were practical and justified. However, the education adviser indicated that, given the significance of the freedom fighter quota, the government would seek opinions from senior policymakers and Cabinet members before making a final decision.

Professor Syed Akhtaruzzaman, chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and the Dhaka Education Board, said the committee had submitted several proposals as part of the new admission policy.

“The proposal to abolish quotas was one of them. We also discussed conducting admission tests and selecting students through a lottery. Which option will ultimately be adopted will be decided at another meeting,” he told Agamir Somoy.

GPA-Based Admissions to Continue

Until 2011, students applied individually to colleges by purchasing and submitting paper application forms. Each institution then admitted students based on either admission tests or GPA rankings.

That system often resulted in students receiving offers from multiple colleges while enrolling in only one, leaving seats vacant and delaying the admission process for weeks.

In 2012, with technical support from BUET, the Ministry of Education introduced a centralized admission system that allowed students to apply to multiple colleges through a single online application or TeleTalk SMS.

However, the system faced repeated technical failures. The admission website frequently crashed under heavy traffic, and errors in the process left some GPA-5 students without placements while others with lower GPAs secured seats at prestigious institutions. The problems triggered widespread criticism and protests by students and parents.

In 2015, the process was fully shifted to an online platform managed by the education boards through xiclassadmission.gov.bd. Students were allowed to select up to 10 preferred colleges, while online confirmation and automatic migration features were introduced to make admissions more efficient.

This year, the education boards proposed reintroducing admission tests for Class XI admissions. However, citing concerns over admission irregularities, lobbying, and commercialization, the proposal was rejected during Tuesday's meeting.

A separate proposal to introduce a lottery-based admission system was also dismissed.

Instead, the government has decided in principle to continue admitting students solely on the basis of their Secondary School Certificate (SSC) GPA, with a final policy announcement expected after this week's high-level consultations.