Students seeking admission to universities bear excessive costs to sit for entry tests every year. The cluster admission test system was introduced to reduce this financial burden and other hassles. But due to a few universities arranging separate entrance exams, students continue to spend a lot of money when they apply to programmes in different disciplines.  

Sources say a student of the science discipline has to spend around Tk30,000 to participate in all exams in all public universities, while students from other disciplines have to spend more than Tk20,000 each.

Following the former President’s deliberations, universities could not reach a firm decision regarding the university entry tests. At the end of last year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Education announced that admission tests would be conducted through individual systems.

After this, the universities started to publish admission notices, allowing students to obtain multiple forms for admission, as was the practice before. Consequently, aspiring students are required to fill out separate forms for each unit in any university, starting from two or more units, to participate in the admission process and study in different departments based on their qualifications.

In previous years, students, except for the Fine Arts unit of Dhaka University, took the examination for Unit-D along with their respective units. They had the opportunity to seek admission to other faculties based on their own faculty.

However, to pursue studies in different faculties according to their interests, students must now participate in the admission tests for all units.

As per the Dhaka University (DU) admission circular, students from all disciplines can take part in the admission tests by filling out forms for the Faculty of Fine Arts, Science, Arts, Law and Social Science units, as well as the Business Studies unit.

Dhaka University charges Tk1000 per unit, while a student has to pay Tk4200 to fill out forms for all four units.

Jahangirnagar University (JU) has decided to organise separate admission tests in a total of six units- A, B, C, C1, D and E. In this, only students of the Science discipline can participate in D unit tests for subjects under the Biology Faculty.

Science students need to pay Tk4,950 for all forms, while others will have to pay Tk4,050. Additionally, a 1.2% service charge has to be submitted along with the form fee to complete the application procedure.

For Chittagong University (CU), science candidates have to pay Tk6,000 each for all units and other discipline candidates Tk5,000 for five units including a service charge Tk100.

In Rajshahi University (RU), although the admission test is conducted in only three units, candidates can participate in all units' tests.

The service charge for filling out the form is Tk120, and the cost for the A and C units' forms is Tk1,320, while for the B unit, it is Tk1,100.

Additionally, those seeking admission to RU will have to spend an extra Tk50 each on the initial application.

In Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), science candidates will have to pay Tk4,500 for all exams for the entry tests, while others need to pay Tk3,150.

Candidates said that they have to apply for the entry tests considering various factors – travel expenses, the number of seats as well as preparation status.

Despite the desire of many, they have to forego their applications based on preferences. Additionally, financial constraints force many candidates to be rejected when applying to various universities.

DU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr ASM Maksud Kamal said, “There are specific reasons behind every exam, which cannot be avoided. Although the cost increased slightly with this method, it did not exceed the tolerable level. Instead, the opportunities for students have increased more than before.” He added, “Anyone from a different faculty who wishes to study a subject under another faculty can secure admission by participating in the examination of the respective faculty.”

UGC member Prof Dr Biswajit Chanda said that if a unit is kept for each discipline of students in the admission test, it will reduce their suffering a lot.

“In this, students will get admission in different departments of different faculties according to their merit by participating in an exam. Attending the one-day exam by filling out a form will reduce the financial loss of the students,” he said.