In the upcoming academic year of 2025, all public and private secondary schools in the country will continue to admit students through a digital lottery system. Interested students can apply online starting November 12 of this year, with the application process running until November 30. Following this application period, students will be selected through a lottery in December.
This decision regarding the collection of information on vacant seats, application timelines, and the digital lottery was made in a recent meeting held at the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE).
According to DSHE sources, the meeting decided that educational institutions must provide information on vacant seats to complete the lottery admission process. This information must be submitted through the designated process between October 30 and November 8.
For any class section, the number of students required shall not exceed 55. School heads in Dhaka city will designate a maximum of three nearby thanas as 'catchment' areas in the information form.
Until 2020, the lottery system was only used for admissions to the first grade. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lottery admission process was expanded to all grades starting in 2021. This year, the interim government has maintained that regulation, meaning that the digital lottery will determine who gets admission into which school.