FFs’ grandchildren too to get preference
The government has decided to introduce a quota system for children of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) employees, as well as grandchildren of freedom fighters, for admission to all public secondary schools in the capital. This will come into effect from the 2012 academic session. In the current academic session (2011), two per cent of the seats in all 24 public secondary schools have been set aside for children of education ministry officials. This has drawn flak from different quarters.
At a meeting last week, the DSHE decided to include children of its staff to the existing two per cent seats reserved for children of education ministry officials. Although there is an existing five per cent quota for children of freedom fighters in all government secondary schools, it was decided that the same facilities would be given to grandchildren of freedom fighters.
The meeting, chaired by the DSHE director general Professor Noman-ur-Rashid, was also attended by the DSHE director (secondary), Professor M Shafiqur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner (education and development), Dhaka, Md. Masud Karim, Inspector of School of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka, Srikanta Kumar Chand, and the heads of all 24 schools.
“Leaders of various officers’ and employees’ associations were putting pressure on the DSHE to reserve seats for their children. Freedom fighters, too, put pressures on us to introduce quotas for their grandchildren,” said an official at the DSHE.
“The heads of all 24 schools have been asked to implement the decision. The education ministry, at a meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday (December 11), would also endorse our decision,” the official added.
When asked, a public school headmaster said the new system would make no contribution to improving school education as the employees of the ministry and the DSHE had no contribution in imparting education at all. “The ministry is run by administration cadre and the DSHE is run by education cadre. Besides, there are some influential Class III and Class IV employees in the two controlling offices,” he added.
Like the current academic year, the public secondary schools will select students for admission to Class I through an open lottery. Admission seekers to other classes (from Class II to Class IX) will have to sit for a 100-mark written test.
From December 5, the 24 schools have started selling admission forms and it will continue till December 13. Admission tests will be held on December 18, 19 and 20 for the schools under groups A, B and C, respectively, and results will be published on December 29. The lottery for groups A and C will be held on December 26, while for group B, it will be held on December 27. Classes in the new academic session will start from the very first day of the next year.
In the current academic session, the government has introduced a two per cent quota for disabled children.
-With The Independent input
