Wares Ali Khan :
A recent notification from the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), following a decision made on July 15, 2025, has sent a shockwave through the country’s educational landscape.
The directive states that for this year’s Primary Stipend Examination, only students from government-run primary schools will be eligible to participate, with a cap allowing a maximum of 40% of students from each eligible institution, considering their meritocracy based on the first-term exam performance, to sit for the exam.
While seemingly a procedural adjustment, this decision is, in reality, a regressive step that erects an unjust barrier, systematically excluding over a million children and undermining the very principle of equal opportunity that our nation strives for.
The gravity of this decision becomes starkly clear when we look at the numbers. According to the government’s Annual Primary School Census (APSC) 2022, there are approximately 23, 54,898 fifth-graders in government primary schools, which is greater for sure, in number in the current academic year.
In parallel, the privately managed sector-which includes kindergartens, NGO-run schools, autonomous organisations-run institutions, and Ebtedayee madrasahs-educates a staggering almost 12,119,564 students in the same grade.
This means that with a single stroke of the pen, the DPE has disenfranchised nearly one-third of the entire fifth-grade student population. These are not phantom figures; they represent over a million bright, aspiring children whose only “fault” is that they attend an institution not directly run, supervised by the state-ownership.
They are being denied the chance to compete, to be recognised for their merit, and to earn a scholarship that could be pivotal for their future educational growth. The question we must ask is-on what grounds can such a discriminatory-decisive policy be justified?
One might argue that the decision is a logistical one, aimed at streamlining the examination process. Or perhaps it is a misguided attempt to bolster the government school system by reserving this prestigious opportunity for its students.
Neither justification holds water. For years, Bangladesh has successfully managed large-scale public examinations like the Primary Education Completion (PEC) exam, and that is not very far from now, which included students from every type of institution and provided an equally shared platform for fair contest.
To claim now that including private-school students is logistically unfeasible is a poor excuse for administrative failure.
More importantly, a national stipend examination should be a platform for meritocracy, not a tool for institutional favouritism. Its purpose is to identify and reward the brightest young minds across the nation, irrespective of their background or the banner under which they study.
By limiting the exam to government school students, the DPE is sending a shocking message that a child’s access to opportunity is determined not by their talent or hard work, but by the tag on their school building! This creates a demoralising and divisive “us versus them” narrative at a tender age, fostering resentment where there should be healthy competition.
The private education sector in Bangladesh is not a peripheral entity; it is a crucial partner in the nation’s mission for the expansion of universal primary education.
These institutions fill significant gaps, often providing quality education to children whose parents make immense financial sacrifices in the hope of a better future.
To penalise these students and their families by excluding them from a stipend-based national public exam is a sheer injustice. It invalidates their efforts and tells them that their contribution to the nation’s fundamental educational fabric is second-class!
This executive decision will inevitably create chaos and criticism.
Parents from private institutions, administrators of academic learning seats, and avid edupreneurs will rightly feel that their children and learners are being wronged. The move will deepen the discourse on educational disparity, not bridge it. It fundamentally contradicts the spirit of our constitution, which guarantees equal opportunity for all citizens.
However, criticism without a constructive solution is incomplete. The problem is not the 40% cap; it is the discriminatory application of it. The path forward is simple, equitable, and elegant, and that is-apply the 40% ratio universally within the entire jurisdiction.
Let every primary-level educational institution in the country-be it government, private, NGOs and Organisations-run, or madrasah-be permitted to nominate its top 40% of fifth-grade students to sit for the Primary Stipend Examination 2025.
This approach respects the DPE’s apparent goal of managing the number of examinees while upholding the sacred principle of fairness. It would ensure that the examination remains a true test of national merit, where the best and brightest from every corner of our society have a fair chance to shine.
Concerned representatives of the state-mechanism and the advisory body of the interim government, including the Directorate of Primary Education, must reconsider this deeply flawed decision. An examination that is meant to unite and inspire our nation’s children must not be the very instrument that divides them.
The future of our nation depends on nurturing all our talent, not just a select portion. It is time to step down this unsought barrier and restore faith in a system that promises education and opportunity for all.
(The writer is an academic
and edupreneur).
