Writ Dismissed: Lottery Stays for Class One, Admission Tests Upheld for Other Classes

The High Court has dismissed a writ petition that sought to keep the lottery system for admissions from class one to class nine in all schools, instead of admission tests. A High Court bench of Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi and Justice Fatema Anwar passed the order on Sunday after a preliminary hearing of the petition.

As a result of the order, the lottery system will remain for class one admission, and the decision to admit students through examinations from class two onwards will stand and remain in force, Deputy Attorney General Nur Muhammad Azmi said.

Earlier, the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the education ministry, in a memorandum on 16 March, announced the cancellation of the lottery-based admission process from class one to class nine in government and non-government secondary schools across the country. It was later announced that admission tests would be held from class two to class nine, and that only class one admission would be through a lottery.

Challenging that 16 March memorandum, Minhaz Uddin Ahmed, executive director of the Movement for Human Rights and Good Governance Foundation, filed the writ petition on 7 October.

The petition came up for hearing before a vacation bench of the High Court on 14 October, when the court dropped it from the cause list. It was then placed before a regular bench this month, and the hearing followed.

Lawyer Zahidur Rahman Talukdar appeared for the petitioner, while Deputy Attorney General Nur Muhammad Azmi represented the state.

Talukdar said the writ had been filed seeking to keep the lottery system for admissions from class one to class nine. He said the court dismissed the petition, saying it would not interfere in the government's policymaking, and that the next step would be taken after discussion with the petitioner, according to his wishes.

Earlier, because of the coronavirus outbreak, students were admitted through a lottery in all classes in the 2021 academic year, and the system had remained in place since then. The Secondary and Higher Education Division cancelled the lottery system in its 16 March memorandum.

The education ministry then issued the admission policy for government secondary schools for the coming academic year (2027) on 13 October. Under the new policy, students for class one will be selected through a digital lottery, while admissions from class two to class nine will be through written examinations. Sunday's High Court order leaves that decision in place.