The interim government on Tuesday changed its decision to reserve seats for family members of the July mass uprising victims — injured or martyred – for admission to government secondary schools.
According to the new decision, in addition to the number of seats fixed for admission through lottery in government secondary schools, one seat will be reserved for admission in each class for family members of the July uprising victims.
This decision will be applicable for only the ongoing 2025 academic year.
The Secondary and Higher Education Division, under the education ministry, on Tuesday issued an office order by cancelling a previous office order in this regard on February 20 this year.
Earlier, the government decided to keep a quota for family members of the July mass uprising victims along with children of the freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters for admission in the government secondary schools.
For admission, a 5 per cent quota is allocated for children of the freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters only.
In February, the ministry took a decision to include the family members of people injured and martyred in the July-August mass uprising in this 5 per cent quota also.
The division uploaded the ministry order on its website on Sunday and instructed heads of all educational institutions to implement this.
At a press briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday, forest, environment and climate change adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said that this facility for admission to schools was not comparable with the quota system in any way.
‘The number of the July uprising victims is very few which is around 12,500,’ she said, adding that for these few people these reserved seats will be a one-time convenience.
The family members of the victims are getting this facility as part of the one-time facilities, she added.Â
As per the latest order issued on Tuesday, sons and daughters of the freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters and family members of the people injured and martyred in the July mass uprising will have to attach the attested copies of relevant certificates or the gazette with the application for the quota and during the admission they will have to show the original certificates or the gazette.
The admission procedure will have to be completed by properly verifying the freedom fighter certificate issued by the liberation war affairs ministry or the gazette of the martyrs in July mass uprising, it said.
In case of unavailability of sons and daughters of the freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters and family members of injured and martyred victims of the July mass uprising, students will be admitted against the vacant seats following the merit list.
In any case, the seats cannot remain vacant, the order said.
Mosammat Rahima Khatun, deputy secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division under the ministry who signed both of the orders, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that the 5 per cent quota allocated for children of the freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters would be in effect as usual.