Large numbers of eligible students haven’t applied for college admission

In the upcoming academic year, nearly 1.1 million students have applied for admission to the 11th grade in colleges and madrasahs. However, more than 1.3 million students have passed this year’s SSC and equivalent examinations.

Even if we exclude about 100,000 students from vocational education, more than 100,000 candidates have not applied for admission to the 11th grade.

Except for a few educational institutions like Notre Dame College in the capital, the selection process for admission to the 11th grade is being conducted centrally in all other colleges and madrasahs in the country.

Under the Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, the online admission process is being carried out centrally with the technical assistance of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

There is no admission test. Students are being selected for admission based on the results of SSC and equivalent examinations.

After submitting the specified application fee, students must apply by giving a preference list of at least five and a maximum of 10 colleges or madrasahs.

Based on the merit of the student, quota (if applicable), and preference list, their position will be determined for admission to one educational institution out of the colleges he/she has applied to.

The admission process under the Technical Education Board is conducted separately.

According to sources from the Dhaka Education Board, a total of 1,073,336 students wishing to enrol have applied. After verification, the results of the selected students in the first phase will be published on Wednesday.

On 10 July, the results of the SSC and equivalent exams were published. This time, there were a total of 1,904,086 candidates under 11 education boards. Among them, 1,303,426 candidates passed, meaning more than 600,000 candidates could not pass.

According to sources from the Dhaka Education Board, there are over 2,666,000 seats available for admission to the 11th grade in colleges and madrasahs across the country.

This indicates that even if all students get admitted, there will still be a large number of vacant seats in the 11th grade.

In the past, it has been observed that almost all students apply for admission in the first phase. However, due to a mismatch between their preferences and results, many do not get selected for their desired educational institutions.

Additionally, for various reasons, some students do not apply in the first phase. Therefore, opportunities for applications have also been provided in the second and third phases of the admission process.

This time, the number of students who filled out the exam form for SSC but did not participate was higher than in previous years.

A survey by the Dhaka Education Board found that nearly 41 per cent of the candidates who participated in the survey are already married.

A large number of students have failed and many are not applying for college admission even after passing. Added to this has been the concern that many students may discontinue their education for various reasons, such as child marriage.

When asked about the reasons for the large number of students not applying for admission this time, Professor Khandakar Ahsanul Kabir, Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board and President of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, told Prothom Alo that he cannot say exactly why so many students did not apply in the first phase of admission at this moment.

Stating that there will be opportunities to apply in two more phases, he further said that the actual numbers and reasons will be known after the entire application process is completed.