Writ seeks ban on primary admission tests and commercial extra books
A writ has been filed seeking a declaration to completely stop all kinds of admission tests in primary education (classes 2 to 5) and to ban all commercial extra books other than the board books approved by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).
Lawyer Md Mahmudul Hasan Mamun filed the writ on Monday (9 November).
The cabinet secretary, the secretary of the Ministry of Education (Secondary and Higher Education Division), the secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the director general of the Directorate of Primary Education and the chairman of the NCTB have been made respondents in the writ.
The writ petition states that under the Primary Education (Compulsory) Act, 1990, admission to primary education without any barrier is an absolute legal right of every child.
But by formulating the 'Government Secondary School Student Admission Policy-2027', the government is making tender children face competitive admission tests for primary admission, which directly conflicts with the main law and is wholly beyond jurisdiction.
The writ states that these unlawful tests create intense fear and mental trauma in children's minds.
It also alleges that, in defiance of the clear prohibition in the National Curriculum and Textbook Board Act, 2018, educational institutions, in unethical collusion with commercial publishers, are loading children with a huge burden of extra guidebooks and supplementary books beyond the NCTB-approved board books.
The writ says this inhuman mental pressure and the weight of extra books are damaging children's spines, physical health and ability to think at the very root.
The National Education Policy, 2010 mentions only one year of government-approved pre-primary education for children.
Yet, ignoring this directive, kindergartens and educational institutions across the country have unlawfully introduced multiple unauthorised levels such as play, nursery, KG-1 and KG-2 beyond the government-approved course, turning children's education into a commercial trap, the writ alleges.
