Online Desk  :    Applications for admission to government and private secondary schools in the metropolitan cities and district’s Sadar Upazilas will start on November 12 and remain open until November 30.  This process applies to both government and private institutions for the upcoming academic year. Each application will cost Tk 110, and schools will be assigned to applicants through a centralised lottery system to be held at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka on December 12.

Private schools at the Upazila level, however, can admit students via their own lotteries, overseen by local admission committees, without the need for an online application—unlike their counterparts in metropolitan areas and district centers. The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education announced these guidelines for school admissions on Sunday.  According to Mohammad Aziz Uddin, the deputy director of the directorate’s secondary section and member secretary of Dhaka’s admission committee, applications for all eligible government and private schools—including newly established ones—will be accepted from 11 am on November 12 until 5 pm on November 30. Notably, no application forms will be distributed directly by schools.

He also said that school headmasters are currently submitting requisitions for available spots, a process that will continue until November 8. Prospective students need to apply via the TeleTalk website (https://gsa.teletalk.com.bd) and may select up to five schools. For dual-shift schools, each shift counts as a separate choice. Children of school staff and teachers benefit from a quota allowing admission to their parents’ schools without an online application. To be eligible for first grade, applicants must be at least five years old.