High Court to deliver verdict on second Dhaka University admission test issue on Wednesday

The High Court has set Wednesday to deliver the verdict on a rule that had asked why students would not be given a second chance to take the Dhaka University admission tests.

The bench of justices Farah Mahbub and Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo set the date after the final hearing on Tuesday.

The bench issued the rule on Mar 16 after the parents of the students seeking admission moved it.
 
It had asked why the university’s decision to not allow second-timers would not be declared illegal.
 
The court asked the vice-chancellor, registrar, assistant registrar and examinations controller along with UGC chairman and education secretary to answer within two weeks.
 
Students after clearing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations were used to get two chances for entering the university.
 
But the premier public university in October last year said it would not give a second chance for enrolment to prevent cheats in the admission tests.
 
Keeping such provisions can ‘deprive’ first-time entry seekers, according to Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique.

“Only those who pass HSC in 2015-16 academic year can sit the admission tests of the Dhaka University. Those who have passed before just cannot take them,” he had said then.
 
The decision sparked protests at different parts of the country as well as the university premises.
 
On Mar 12, the university’s decision was challenged in the High Court.
 
The decision would have come into effect from this year’s admission tests which are only months away.
 
The High Court’s verdict will now decide whether thousands of students who failed last year will get another shot at enrolling at Dhaka University.
 
Last year, 310,138 students sat the admission test against 6,582 seats.