2.69 lakh students did not apply in first phase

More than 2.69 lakh students who passed SSC and dakhil examinations this year are yet to apply for getting enrolled in HSC level, until nine hours before closing the first phase of admission process yesterday.

The first phase online form collection for admission began on August 9 and ended at 11:59pm yesterday.

College inspector at Dhaka Education Board Harun-or-Rashid said till 3pm yesterday a total of 13,25,313 students applied for admission to colleges and madrasas.

This year total 15,94,628 students --13,66,218 from schools and 2,28,418 from madrasas -- passed the SSC and dakhil exams, according to education boards.

Among them, 2.69 lakh students did not applied for admission till 3pm yesterday.

In another calculations, about 11.74 seats at colleges and madrasas will remain vacant this year. There were about 25 lakh seats for class XI at about 8,500 colleges and madrassas, according to Harun.

Many board officials sharing their past experience said most students who don't apply for admission in the first phase, usually drop out from education. Only a handful number of them apply for admission in the second and third phases.

Dhaka Education Board Chairman Prof Ziaul Haque, said the candidates have to keep in mind that they have more chances. "There are two more phases, in which they can apply," said Ziaul, who is also head of the inter-board coordination committee.

For several years, based on the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam, students have been admitted centrally at class XI in government- and private-owned colleges and madrasas in the country through online.

The students can apply to minimum five and maximum 10 colleges. Respective boards then place a student to a college on the basis of their results and choices.

The results of the first phase of online applications will be published on August 25.

The second round of applications will be taken from August 31 to September 2 and its outcome will be published on September 4.

The third phase will run between September 7 and 8 and its results will be out on September 10.

During the three-phase admission process, students can apply to maximum 10 colleges or madrasas, with a fee of Tk 150 for each, said officials.

After the process, a new academic year for HSC and equivalent courses usually begins on July 1. But this year it will be different due to coronavirus situation.

All educational institutions have remained closed since March 17, and the closure was stretched to August 31 to stem Covid-19 transmission.

Education boards expected to start online admission on May 10, but they could not do so as results of SSC and equivalent exams were published on May 31.