University admission test now in cluster system, decides UGC

[Raja Tariqul Hasan Tusher]

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday backed away from proposed combined admission test in public universities and decided to hold tests in cluster system.

The decision was taken at a meeting of vice chancellors at the UGC office with its chairman Kazi Shahidullah in the chair.

The entry tests would be held separately for science and technology universities, engineering universities, agriculture universities and general universities, UGC chairman told newsmen at a briefing.

The universities will be divided into four clusters. Medical colleges hold cluster admission test and agricultural universities too adopted the system from last year.

Details of the cluster admission system would be finalised by second week of March, the briefing said.

Earlier, Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong University and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) decided that they would not adopt the uniform admission test.

Currently, 36 public universities out of 46 run undergraduate level studies.

On 23 January, the UGC decided to introduce a uniform entry test in all public universities across the country from the academic year 2020-21, aiming to reduce the plight of the admission-seekers and their guardians.