Stakeholder discussion and raffle draw prize-giving ceremony

English-medium schools are essential for providing children with an education that keeps pace with the rest of the world.

The “English-medium school admission fair 2026” was organised to provide parents with information about how different English-medium schools educate children and where they can find the right opportunities to build a better future for their children.

The British Council and Prothom Alo organised the fair online for the first time from 26 April to 5 May. Alongside the 10-day online fair, a one-day offline event took place at the Shooting Club in Gulshan, Dhaka, on 2 May.

During the fair, the website englishmediumadmissionfair.com received more than 167,000 visitors and generated over 550 leads and registrations. The day-long offline event also attracted a large number of interested students and parents.

A discussion with representatives of the fair’s sponsors and participating institutions took place on Monday (31 August) at the Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka. Representatives from the British Council, CHS Education, Prime Bank, Brothers Furniture and 17 English-medium schools attended the discussion.

Alongside the discussion, organisers handed prizes to the three winners of the fair’s raffle draw and presented crests to representatives of the sponsors and partner schools.

The programme began with a documentary about the English-Medium School Admission Fair.

ABM Jabed Sultan, chief digital business officer of Prothom Alo, then presented an overview of the fair, as well as opportunities for joint activities and initiatives between Prothom Alo and English-medium schools.

Jabed Sultan said, “Prothom Alo is not just a newspaper; throughout the year, we also organise various activities and initiatives. We have had a long-standing engagement with Bangla-medium schools. We want to further strengthen this engagement with English-medium schools.”

He said, “Choosing the right English-medium school for their children remains a challenge for many parents. This fair has created an opportunity to access information about some of the country’s leading English-medium schools on a single platform. With everyone’s cooperation and participation, we want to organise the event regularly in the future as well.”

Representatives of various participating institutions then shared their experiences of taking part in the fair, discussed different aspects of the event and spoke about the potential for similar initiatives in the future.

Tahnee Yeasmin, business development director at the British Council, said, “Our main goal is to further advance Bangladesh’s education system. Bringing so many schools together on a single platform would not have been possible without our partnership with Prothom Alo. I hope such initiatives will continue to create more effective opportunities for students and parents in the future.”

Nazmul Hasan, chief executive officer of CHS Education, said, “After completing school, many English-medium students go abroad for higher education. We support them on that journey. I would like to thank Prothom Alo and the British Council for taking such a wonderful initiative.”

Sharifuzzaman Sarkar, director of Sales and Marketing at Brothers Furniture, said, “Students studying in English-medium schools face some limitations when seeking opportunities at universities in the country and in government jobs such as the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS). As a result, many students are going abroad for higher education and future careers. More work needs to be done on these issues.”

Representatives of the English-medium schools attending the event called on Prothom Alo to take various initiatives to increase their students’ interest in the Bengali language.

In this regard, Anisul Hoque, managing editor of Prothom Alo, said, “Kishor Alo organises a meeting with students on the third Saturday of every month. If you wish, you can send your students there. We also visit different schools and colleges to organise various events, including the Festival of Youth. If you wish, we will take initiatives to involve English-medium schools in these events as well.”

Shumana Sharmin, associate editor of Prothom Alo, encouraged English-medium school students to develop an interest in learning Bengali.

She also urged teachers and officials of the institutions to encourage students to submit their writing and artwork to Gollachhut, Prothom Alo’s weekly feature page, and participate in various workshops.

Ayesha Kabir, Head of English Web at Prothom Alo, said, “You need to learn Bengali and know about the history and culture of the country. You can inform us about any problems at your school or any issues concerning your students. We will try to work on them and provide support where necessary.”

Officials responsible for various departments at Prothom Alo spoke about the activities of their respective departments and the opportunities for English-medium school students to become involved in them.

Among them were Abul Basar, executive editor of the monthly magazine Bigganchinta; Adnan Mukit, executive editor of Kishor Alo; Rashedul Alam Rasel, assistant news editor (Education, Jobs, Citizen News and Expatriate Affairs); Mahfuz Rahman, departmental editor of the weekly magazine Gollachhut; Md Saifullah, departmental editor of Shopno Niye; and Rassel Raihan, coordinator of Prothoma.com.

Estiak Milon Paul, founder principal of Project Headway Grammar School Rajshahi said, “Initiatives like this should be expanded across the country so that students and parents outside Dhaka can also learn about English-medium education and the related opportunities and facilities.”

Abu Hena Md Sorwar Jahan, principal of North West International School in Rangpur, said, “We have travelled all the way from Rangpur to Dhaka to join this event because we want people across the country to know about our school. Although English-medium education is comparatively more expensive, parents should attach importance to investing in their children’s education.”

Maryam Noor Yunus, principal of New Horizon Crescent International School, said, “Initiatives like this create opportunities for communication among students, parents and educational institutions. We believe there is no alternative to working together to improve education. We want to continue working alongside Prothom Alo in such initiatives in the future as well.”

Nazah Salawat, principal of Daffodil International School, said, “We did not expect to receive such a strong response to this initiative. The interest shown by parents and students has truly inspired us.”

Following the discussion session, three raffle draw winners received their prizes. Azharul Haque won the first prize, a bookshelf. Sabbir H Rahman won the second prize, a swivel chair, while Lakhi Sultana won the third prize, a reading table. Brothers Furniture sponsored the prizes.

Prothom Alo Managing Editor Anisul Hoque, Chief Digital Business Officer ABM Jabed Sultan, Brothers Furniture Director of Sales and Marketing Sharifuzzaman Sarkar, and British Council Business Development Director Tahnee Yeasmin presented the prizes to the winners.

The organisers then presented commemorative crests to representatives of the fair’s sponsors and participating schools.

Also present at the event were Prime Bank PLC Senior Executive Officer Sheikh Nasir Hossain, Prothom Alo Digital Marketing Lead Mehboob Javed, Assistant General Manager (Digital Content) Khairul Babui, Assistant Manager Zahid Hasan, Senior Executive Bipasha Bala and others involved in organising the event.

Bibardhan Roy Emon, deputy manager (Business Development) at Prothom Alo, moderated the event.