Primary scholarship: Ministry scraps test, will introduce new evaluation method

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has once again decided to cancel the scholarship examination for primary students in a bid to reduce students' dependency on coaching.

A new evaluation method will be introduced to select students for the scholarships, officials said after an intra-ministry meeting on the issue in the meeting room of the primary and mass education ministry in the capital on Tuesday (8 August).

"There will be no scholarship test. Scholarships will be given to students after evaluation in a different process," Mahbubur Rahman Tuhin, senior public relations officer of the ministry, told The Business Standard.

However, he said the criteria for awarding the scholarship is yet to be decided.

The last primary scholarship examination was held in 2008. In the following year, the government introduced the  Primary Education Certificate (PEC) examinations, and students were awarded scholarships based on their performance in the tests till 2021.

However, in 2022, authorities decided to put an end to the PEC examination and the primary scholarship examination was re-introduced on an experimental basis.

Under the method, students who secured more than 25% marks in the fifth grade annual examination, got the chance to appear in the scholarship test.