The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Education Ministry have formed a new committee to explore the implementation of a unified admission test for all public universities.
Led by UGC member Professor Haseena Khan, the committee includes former member of the Bangladesh Accreditation Council Prof Dr. Sanjoy Kumar Adhikary and a senior UGC official.
UGC member Professor Muhammad Alamgir said, "The Ministry of Education requested a new proposal for the unified admission test. Consequently, we formed a new committee, and we will submit the proposal to the ministry upon its completion."
In April last year, the UGC commenced drafting guidelines for the unified admission test. Subsequently, on October 31, a draft ordinance was prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Education for approval. However, the ministry rejected the proposed ordinance, citing various weaknesses, and requested a new proposal.
On November 27 of the same year, a letter signed by Rokhchana Begum, deputy secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education, deemed the UGC's previous draft ordinance as 'not acceptable.'
The letter emphasized the inappropriateness of holding the post of chairman of the UGC as the head of the 'Central Entrance Examination Authority' constituted by ordinance simultaneously. As per the letter, the UGC was entrusted on April 15 to initiate the necessary steps for conducting a unified admission test for all public universities starting from the academic year 2023-24. Instead of sending a proposal to the Ministry to determine the procedure for centrally conducting admission tests, the UGC directly submitted the draft ordinance.
Sources said that the proposal sent by the UGC was not approved due to strong objections from the ministry on several issues, including the structure of the central admission examination authority, its chairmanship, and spending power. Consequently, following the Ministry of Education's instructions, the Commission is taking steps to formulate a new policy. If the UGC resubmits the proposal, the ministry will scrutinize and forward it to the President's office. If the President promulgates it in the form of an ordinance, a unified admission test will be conducted.
Member of the drafting committee, Prof Dr. Sanjoy Kumar Adhikary, said, “I have not received any letter regarding this yet. I received calls from different directions and inquired with the UGC Chairman. He mentioned that a policy was taken for admission to all universities, but the ministry sent it back. The file has been placed in a committee to look into it. That's all I know.”
