40pc quota for local students

The government has issued a policy saying 40 percent of seats must be reserved for local students in Dhaka during admission to secondary, junior secondary and combined primary sections at private schools and colleges.

The education ministry issued a set of guidelines yesterday.

Students countrywide seeking to study in class 1 will have to be selected through a lottery while there must be a waiting list. Selected students will lose their seats if they fail to get admitted within the stipulated time and those from the waiting list will get the opportunity.

The authorities can take Tk 200 for application forms for admission in the MPO and partially MPO-listed educational institutions.

The admission fees along with session charges will not be more than Tk 500 in rural areas, Tk 1,000 in upazila headquarters, Tk 2,000 in district towns and Tk 3,000 in all metropolitan areas, except the capital. It will not be more than Tk 5,000 in Dhaka city.

The authorities of partial-MPO and non-MPO listed institutions offering education in Bangla can charge a maximum Tk 8,000 in admission, session and development fees for teachers' salaries and allowance while English medium schools can charge Tk 10,000.

However, no institution can collect over Tk 3,000 as development fees. The government will take legal actions against non-abiding intuitions and cancel the MPO facilities, including academic permission, of the non-government schools concerned.

The private educational institutions will have to keep five percent of seats for freedom fighters' children and grandchildren.