19 public universities set minimum qualification for admission test

Nineteen science and technology, and general public universities set to hold centralised admission tests for the next academic session today fixed the minimum GPA requirement for applying.

Vice-chancellors of these universities at a meeting also decided that there will be three exams -- one each for science, humanities and commerce students -- based on the HSC syllabus.

All 19 universities will be used as venues for the exams.

Students who have passed Higher Secondary Certificate and its equivalent exams this year and 2019 will be eligible for sitting the tests. 

"Each exam would be 100 marks following the MCQ [Multiple Choice Questions] methods," Jagannath University VC Professor Mijanur Rahman told The Daily Star, after the meeting held at his university.

Each aspirant will get a mark between 0 to 100. Each of the universities will be able to fix a minimum score required for admission to that university, he added.

"It was also discussed that these tests will be held when the intensity of the Covid-19 reduces," said the VC.

Barisal University Vice Chancellor Professor Sadequl Arefin said that science students willing to take the admission test will need to have a grade point average (GPA) of 7 combined in SSC and HSC or equivalent tests.

Similarly, business students willing to take the test will need to have GPA 6.5 and humanities students will need GPA 6 for becoming eligible for the test.

"Students having a GPA below 3 in any exam will not be able to apply for the test," he said.

Sadequl also said that universities themselves will decide on whether they would take the SSC and HSC results into their consideration in the admission process.

Mijanur and Sadequl both said that it would be the universities' decision whether to give a chance to second time admission seekers.

On December 1, nineteen public universities finalised that they will enroll students through a centralised admission test for the next academic session to reduce hassles of the admission seekers.

The universities are: Islamic University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Khulna University, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Jagannath University, Comilla University, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Begum Rokeya University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, University of Barisal, Rangamati Science and Technology University, Rabindra University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Digital University, Sheikh Hasina University, and Bangamata Sheikh Fojilatunnesa Mujib Science and Technology University.

On January 23, the University Grants Commission announced that it would go for a uniform admission test for the 2020-2021 academic year.  Later in February, it was decided in principal that universities would hold the admission test following a cluster system.

Five leading universities -- Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University -- have expressed reservations about the system.