'University admission test not before April'

Although the results of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations have been published, the admission test of medical and public universities will not be held before April due to the coronavirus situation.

There are plans to hold the medical and engineering admission test. There are plans to hold the admission test of other universities after that.

Four engineering and technology universities are discussing about taking the admission test under a cluster system.

But the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) will take the admission test separately as before. However, the other three engineering universities will take admission tests under a cluster method from this year.

A total of 30 universities will take admission tests under a cluster system this year. This information has come to light after talking with the vice-chancellors of several universities.

Without taking any direct examination, the result of the HSC and equivalent examinations of 2020 was published last Saturday. In special circumstances, all the over 13.67 million (13,67,377) examinees have passed this year.

According to the University Grants Commission (UGC), there are about 13.2 million (1,320,000) seats for admission in the first year. There will be high competition in the admission test this year.

A large portion of the students of science will try to get admitted into medical colleges. There are about 10 and a half thousand seats in public and private medical colleges and and dental colleges.

Professor AHM Enayet Hossain, the director general of the Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME), told Prothom Alo that a proposal has been made to the ministry to hold the medical admission test in April. The examination will be held on the date approved by the ministry.

According to a source in DGME, it has been proposed to take the MBBS admission exam on 2 April and the admission test of dental on 30 April.

For the first time 20 general and science and technology universities are going to take admission tests under a cluster system. Students will get admitted into these 20 universities through three admission tests for science, humanities and business studies. Students have to answer multiple choice questions (MCQ) of 100 marks.

The vice-chancellor of a university told Prothom Alo on Tuesday that there is no chance of holding admission tests before April. It will take about one and a half months to prepare for the test. Besides, the issue of Ramadan is also being kept in mind. Another vice-chancellor said no decision can be made regarding this issue until the coronavirus situation comes under control.

Farid Uddin Ahmed, the vice-chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and a joint convener of the cluster-system admission test committee, said a meeting of the 20 universities' vice-chancellors would be held at Jagannath University on Thursday to prepare for the admission test. All the matters concerned will be discussed and fixed there.

Seven agricultural universities have been taking admission tests under the luster system from last year. This year Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University in Gazipur will lead the admission process.

The vice-chancellor (VC) of this university, Md Giyasuddin Mia told Prothom Alo on Tuesday that they usually take the test after the admission test of medical colleges and BUET. It will probably be the same this year. Preparations are being taken to hold a meeting regarding admission tests next week.

Four autonomous universities including Dhaka University will be taking admission tests separately. Prof ASM Maksud Kamal, the pro-vice chancellor of Dhaka University, told Prothom Alo that the admission test centres will be decentralized to the divisional cities due to the coronavirus situation. When the universities and educational institutions of the divisional cities open, they will be able to take the exams.

The National University, however, conducts the admission on the basis of SSC and HSC examination results. It has been revealed on inquiry that a few universities may take exams separately before April.

Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET), Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET), Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) decided in principle that they will take admission tests under a cluster yestem.

BUET proposed that they would be the chairman of the central admission test committee every year and the examination centre should be in BUET only.

When contacted, professor Mizanur Rahman, director of BUET students' welfare, told Prothom Alo on Tuesday that their academic council had decided that BUET will not take admission tests under the cluster system in compliance with the conditions set by the other three universities. In that case, BUET will take the admission test separately as before. Now the admission committee will sit and decide when this test will be held.

Mohammad Rafiqul Alam of CUET said that RUET, KUET and CUET have decided to take the admission test under a cluster system. This time the admission test will be led by the CUET.