Cluster admission tests will be held in 32 public universities in 2021-22 academic year. This year admission tests will be held under cluster system in three more universities-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman University, Kishoreganj, Chandpur Science and Technology University, Habiganj Agricultural University, said University Grants Commission (UGC) in a press release on Thursday. The schedule for the admission tests will be informed at the Bangladesh University Council’s meeting on Friday and exam centers this year will be arranged in colleges if necessary. The decisions were taken at a view-exchange meeting of UGC with the Vice Chancellors of the universities on Thursday. UGC chairman Dr Dil Afroz Begum presided over the meeting in presence of 36 university VCs and their representatives. Last year, admission test was held in 29 universities under three clusters- general, science and technology and agriculture.

An enforcement team of the Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday  met the officials of Bangladesh Textile University to check on the spot alleged irregularities in admission test results. Deputy Director of ACC Public relation office Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB that the enforcement team headed by Assistant Director Mohammad Niyamul Ahsan Ghazi. Read: ACC files graft case against retired Titas man The ACC team discussed the allegations in detail with the vice chancellor of the university and other related officials. They informed the team that the results of the admission test for the BSc in Textile Engineering course of Bangladesh Textile University for the year 2020-21, published on Nov 11,2021 were found to be erroneous due to technical defects in the software.   The result was withdrawn on November 18, 2021 while the corrected results were re-published as per the decision of the meeting of the Admission Committee on 19-11-2021, the university authorities informed. Read: ACC lodges graft case against a Titas gas company sales assistant, his wife The ACC team checked the records related to the allegations and collected records related to the complaint from the university.   The enforcement team will submit a report to the commission after reviewing the information gathered about the allegations.

The first-ever combined tests of 20 general, science, and technology universities for the academic year 2020-21 were held on Sunday. Considering the Covid-19 situation, authorities have set up 28 exam centres across Bangladesh, according to Wahiduzzaman, member secretary of the Cluster Admission Test Committee. Some 361,406 students have applied to take part in the cluster admission tests for public universities. Among them, 194 841 applied to science departments but only 131,905 students got the chance to sit for the test. The exams for the humanities (B) and commerce units (C) are scheduled to be held on October 24 and November 1 respectively.

The ferocious second wave of the pandemic has further disrupted the higher education landscape across the world. And Bangladesh is no exception. Here too, Covid-19 has exacerbated uncertainty for over a million-plus students preparing for admission tests to get into colleges and universities, with most of them deferred to curb the spread of the virus. The uncertainty has left these admission seekers scrambling to figure out what else they might consider in case they fail to bag a seat in the university of their choice. Read:DU to hold UG admission test from Oct 1, affiliated college test from Oct 29 The most sought-after Dhaka University, for instance, has deferred the admission test for all its undergraduate courses for the third time this academic year, citing the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country. The other leading academic institutions -- Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Chittagong University, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University, and the three public technical universities (CUET-RUET-KUET) -- have all put on hold the admission tests. Forget the admission tests, a number of the 49 public universities in Bangladesh has not been able to conduct internal examinations since the pandemic broke out, resulting in sessions jam. Read JU admission seekers can pay application fees through bKash In fact, in the year 2020, a total of 13,67,377 students successfully completed the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) or equivalent examinations, and by now they were supposed to complete six months of university education. This uncertainty over university admissions and the consequent anxiety have taken a toll on the mental health of many students and made some of them more vulnerable to drug use, UNB has learnt. Female students in the rural areas of Bangladesh are the worst hit, with many of their parents losing their life savings during the pandemic. Many such parents have been forced to marry off their daughters at an early age in the past one year -- dashing their dreams of a higher education. Read HC turns down writ seeking cancellation of MBBS admission test results “I had a dream, a dream to complete my graduation. But the academic sessions jam and the pandemic changed my life forever,"  Saifa Nasrin, one such sufferer, told UNB over the phone from rural Bangladesh. Last month, Saifa's parents married her off to reduce the financial burden on the family. "My husband has made it clear to me that he's not in favour of my higher studies." Of the 49 public universities, 30 are supposed to conduct admission tests for undergraduate programmes.  Read: HC questions exclusion of SSC-2016 passed students from admission test Some 20 of these universities -- barring the top five -- have decided to implement a cluster admission test system. Seven agriculture and three technical universities will also follow the same cluster system. Bangladesh also has 107 private varsities and about 2,254 colleges affiliated to National University. Moreover, these 20 public universities -- excluding Dhaka University, BUET, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University -- are said to have received a total of 3,81,406 applications for 2020-21 UG admission tests.  Read DU admission tests rescheduled amid pandemic

Public universities should not go for holding admission tests through the "Proctored Remote Examination System" software.

The Dhaka University (DU) authorities are decentralising the entry tests for the 2020-21 academic year to curb the spread of coronavirus and slashing the total marks by half to 100.

In the face of opposition by a number of universities to the integrated admission test, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has now proposed a cluster admission test system in public universities.

Despite being absent, an applicant ranked 12th in the ‘B Unit’ admission test of 2019-20 academic session of Comilla University (CoU).

Dhaka, Oct 19 (UNB) - The results of 'Ka' and ‘Cha’ unit admission tests of Dhaka University (DU) for academic session 2019-2020 will be published on Sunday.

Dhaka, Oct 14 (UNB) - The admission test for the academic session of 2019-20 of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) was held on Monday.