The government has decided not to allow any educational institution set whimsical questions from unauthorised books for admission tests from class two to eight. The decision, applicable to all public and private educational institutions, was taken at an education ministry meeting yesterday, said sources.

The questions for admission tests have to be made from the textbooks of the National Curriculum and Textbooks Board (NCTB), they added. Besides, the ministry has also fixed the age for admission in class one, which would be 6+ years on January 1. For admission in class two, the age would be 7+, in class three, the age would be 8+, in class four, the age would be 9+, in class five, the age would be 10+, in class six, the age would be 11+ and in class seven, the age would be 12+.This age limit was mentioned in the admission policy last year, but the age limit was not specified for different classes, which have now been fixed through meetings. As per the decision, a student will sit for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations at 15+ years of age which was earlier 14+.The decision came from two separate meetings to finalise the admission policy 2017 of public and private institutions, held at education ministry in the secretariat.

The meeting on the admission policy of public educational institutions headed by Education Secretary Sohrab Hossain also decided to increase the admission fee by Tk 20 to Tk170 from the earlier Tk 150. The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) proposed the increase of admission fee. DSHE said that the admission fee was not increased since 2011 and it has to be increased considering the price hike of different services.

However, the admission fee for the private educational institutions has not been increased and remains Tk 200, meeting sources said. The admission process in class one will remain the same through lottery system and there will be admission tests from class two to eight, based on vacant seats of respective educational institutions.

The admission for class VI and IX will be based on the results of Primary Education Completion (PEC) or Junior School Certificate (JSC) or equivalent examination results. The children of government employers will get the facility to transfer to another school within the district and inter-district but the application for transfer has to be submitted within six months, Chowdhury Mufat Ahmed, Additional Secretary (Govt. Secondary) of education ministry told The Independent yesterday. “The age of admission was not fixed earlier in different classes. Now it has been fixed,” he added. The admission test for class Two and Three would be 50 marks examinations while the tests from class IV to VIII admissions would be of 100 marks. Ministry sources said a resolution will be adopted soon in this regard to make the decisions final. Later DHSE will announce the date for admission.