Plan to introduce single university entry test hits a snag

The University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh has put on hold its plans to introduce a single admission test for all public universities after the government turned down its request for the issuing of a presidential ordinance which would have paved the way for the entrance test to take place.

The UGC is seeking to administer a single admission test for all students applying to public universities in order to reduce complexity of the current examination systems and mitigate the logistical challenges and financial costs faced by students and their parents in the sitting of such exams.

In terms of the current system, prospective students and their parents are required to travel from one city to another to take part in separate admission tests for various universities. Most students also enrol in expensive coaching centres to prepare for the tests.

UGC Acting Chairman Professor Muhammed Alamgir told University World News the UGC took the initiative of a single-entry test for the sake of public interest in line with the wishes of the country’s president, who is also chancellor of all public universities.

However, on Wednesday 29 November, he announced: “A single entry test will not be held this year due to unavoidable reasons.”

Parliamentary sessions

A highly placed source in the education ministry told University World News the proposal to issue an ordinance had been turned down on 27 November.

“The president can issue an ordinance at the time when parliament is dissolved or is not in session. At present there is no state of emergency in the country and therefore the proposal to frame the ordinance is not acceptable,” the source said.

According to the constitution of Bangladesh the president can issue an ordinance when parliament stands dissolved or is not in session if the president is satisfied that circumstances exist which render immediate action necessary.

Since 2 November, the parliament has not been in session, although the tenure of the current parliament will only end on 29 January next year. There is a constitutional obligation to conduct the next parliamentary polls within 90 days before the tenure of a parliament ends. Accordingly, the countdown to the polls started on 1 November.

It is customary that the Bangladesh parliament does not sit from the time the countdown for the election starts. The 12th national polls will take place on 7 January.

When asked whether the education ministry turned down the UGC proposal because it was not acceptable to them, Alamgir refused to comment.

National Testing Authority

UGC, the apex regulatory body of the universities, started the process of introducing a single entrance test in late April, following then president Abdul Hamid’s instruction to the UGC to take necessary measures to hold such admission tests for all public universities for the 2023 to 2024 session.

As part of their initiative, the UGC formed a 15-member committee, headed by the UGC chairman, which recommended the issuing of an ordinance by the president.

“We finalised the draft of the ‘Central Admission Test Authority Ordinance’ and sent it to the education ministry on 30 October for further action,” a UGC member told University World News on Wednesday 29 November.

The member said that the issuing of the ordinance was requested so that tests could be taken in accordance with the ordinance until the National Testing Authority was formed.

He said after the ordinance is issued, there will be no scope for any university to take admission tests outside of it.

UGC sources said that major universities such as Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University, all of which are top destinations for students, have some “reservations” about joining the single entry test.

Agreement from universities

However, Alamgir said these universities had in principle agreed to join the single admission test.

Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka, confirmed to World University News the institution was intending to join. “No, we have no objections. We said that we will join the single entry test under the national testing authority,” Kamal said.

However, he said a single test should be held only after the formation of the National Testing Authority. “If it does not have rules and regulations it might stumble at the beginning stage; that will not be desirable,” he said.

Bangladesh currently has 55 public universities. Several of them are new and are not enrolling students.

Excluding five medical universities, two affiliated universities and an open university, the rest can accept around 60,000 students each academic year. Currently, 22 general, science and other public universities hold a ‘central admission test’ under a cluster. Besides this, seven agriculture and three engineering and technology universities hold joint tests in two different clusters.

Nine universities – including Dhaka University, BUET, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University – are not part of the cluster system, and they each hold their own separate admission tests following the Higher Secondary Certificate exam at the end of Class 12.