Uniform intake test to be held on varsity campuses

A uniform admission test of 30 public universities will be held on the respective campuses of those universities to avoid any kind of irregularities and indiscipline during the tests.

No university will be allowed to use any rooms outside their campuses to hold the entry tests.

The date for the admission tests is yet to be announced, but it will be decided in a meeting of the Association of Universities of Bangladesh (AUB) scheduled to be held on 17 February.

The association president Professor Muhammad Rafiqul Alam, also vice-chancellor of Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology, told The Business Standard that they are planning to use the rooms of 30 public universities to ensure a transparent admission test.

"Actually it is safe for us to arrange the examinations at the universities that have agreed to hold a uniform admission test," he said.

"We will decide the date of the admission test for 20 general universities, 7 agricultural universities and 3 engineering universities on 17 February and take decisions in this regard."

Vice-Chancellor of Shahjalal University of Engineering and Technology Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed, also joint convener of the cluster-based admission test system, told TBS they are working to ensure safety for all admission seekers.

"And at the same time we will build a good environment so that the aspirants can prevent the Covid-19 infection," he said.

There are 46 public universities in the country.

Of them, 40 will take new students for their honours courses under the 2020-21 session. 

The 30 public universities will hold the admission test in three clusters -- General, Agricultural and Engineering.

The remaining 10 universities including Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Chattogram University, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh University of Textiles, Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University will hold their enrolment tests separately.

The first year admission test will held on 100 marks. The universities are yet to decide on whether to consider the marks of SSC and HSC for admission. 

Meanwhile, the tests for admission to public and private medical universities and colleges for MBBS and BDS courses will be held on April 2 and April 30 respectively.

Admission seekers for MBBS courses can apply from February 11 to March 1 while the aspirants for BDS courses from 27 March to 15 April.

Candidates having combined Grade Point Average of 9 in their Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate examinations will be eligible to apply.

According to the health ministry, there are 37 public medical colleges with 4,350 seats for MBBS course and 532 for BDS course while 75 private medicate colleges have 6,336 seats for MBBS and 1,405 for BDS.

Usually every year, the admission process for medical and dental colleges starts from October and continues till November after the publication of HSC results. The classes start in January after the admission tests.

But this year HSC exams had been postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

As a result, the government evaluated the HSC candidates based on their JSC and SSC results.

This year 13.67 lakh students passed the HSC, with 1.61 lakh of them receiving GPA 5 without taking the public examinations.