As the July admission season approaches, over a million Bangladeshi students and their families are being forced to navigate confusion, silence, and systemic shortcomings.
Despite the availability of over 3.3 million Class XI seats nationwide, the Ministry of Education has yet to issue a clear and timely roadmap for the 2025–26 college admissions — a troubling oversight that reflects deeper structural issues in our secondary education system.
This year, only 1.3 million students passed the SSC and equivalent exams, leaving nearly two million college seats unfilled.
While this points to a critical mismatch between capacity and demand, it also masks the real issue: the fierce competition for admission into a small group of elite colleges.
Institutions such as Notre Dame College, Viqarunnisa Noon, Dhaka College, and Holy Cross are dramatically oversubscribed, with limited places available for tens of thousands of top-performing students.
Last year’s admission cycle saw more than 8,500 GPA-5 students failing to secure seats in their preferred institutions during the first round.
At the same time, over 200 colleges had zero admissions — a clear indicator of perception gaps, quality disparities, and ineffective distribution of students across the system.
Further complicating this year’s admissions is the chaos surrounding SSC result errors. From technical mishandlings in Joypurhat to the failure of schools to submit practical marks under the Jessore Board, the integrity of the examination process has been seriously undermined.
Though some errors have been corrected after appeals, others remain unresolved, adding anxiety and distrust among students.
The proposed retirement of the freedom fighter quota and introduction of a ‘July Uprising Quota’ is a noteworthy policy shift.
While the intent to modernise outdated quotas is valid, such changes require transparent consultation and timely notification, not last-minute improvisation in an already high-pressure admission window.
The Ministry of Education must act immediately.
Parents and students deserve clear instructions, reliable timelines, and an efficient, fair process.
The continued autonomy of missionary colleges to hold independent entrance tests offers a degree of clarity, but it is not a substitute for systemic planning.
In a country where education is often the only ladder to social mobility, this kind of administrative limbo is unacceptable.
The government must not allow confusion to dictate the futures of millions.
Clear leadership, robust coordination, and student-centric policy are urgently needed to restore confidence in the admissions process and the education system at large.
