High Court Rules Private Primary Students Can Also Participate in Scholarship Exams

ফাইল ছবি

News Desk:
The High Court has declared illegal the decision by the Directorate of Primary Education that only students from government schools could participate in the primary scholarship exam.

On Tuesday (November 4), the petitioner’s lawyer Barrister Muntasir Ahmed confirmed the ruling to the media.

The court also directed the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Directorate of Primary Education to organize the scholarship exam allowing students from private schools to participate, in line with the 2008 Primary Scholarship Exam Guidelines. The ruling came from a High Court bench comprising Justices Md. Mozibur Rahman Mia and Rezaul Karim following the final hearing on Monday (November 3).

According to the lawyer, the Directorate had issued a memorandum on July 17 restricting participation to government school students. This decision was challenged in a petition filed by Md. Faruk Hossain, director of Keraniganj Public Laboratory School, along with teachers and parents totaling 42 petitioners.

Earlier, on September 2, the High Court had temporarily suspended the memorandum’s effect, questioning its legal validity and why the scholarship exam should not be conducted according to the 2008 guidelines. After the final hearing, the court ruled the memorandum ultra vires and ordered that private school students also be allowed to participate.

The 2025 government primary school scholarship exam is scheduled to be held from December 21 to 24.