Senior education officials said on Monday night that they were considering keeping the lottery system for admission to government and private schools in the coming academic year.
A senior education ministry official, speaking anonymously, said the matter was under discussion and no final decision had been made, while an official of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education said an admission committee had been asked to weigh whether, and in which grades, the lottery could remain.
The officials said the rethink was prompted by concern that entrance tests would add pressure on young children, with some also citing the risk of admission-related coaching business.
A senior education ministry official said a final decision could come this month, and a secondary-education official expressed hope that it would follow the publication of SSC and equivalent examination results on 10 August.
In March, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon announced that the lottery system would be withdrawn and replaced by admission tests from the 2027 academic year.
The lottery was first introduced in 2011 for admission to Grade 1 in government secondary schools, extended to private schools in 2012, and applied to all grades from 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It remains unclear which grades, if any, would keep the lottery or whether the earlier plan for entrance tests would still apply in some form.