Digital lottery to determine admission in govt secondary schools

The Ministry of Education published the admission policy for government secondary schools for the 2024 academic year on Sunday, saying students will be admitted through a digital lottery.

It said there should be no admission test for entry-level admissions or from first to ninth grade.

The Secondary and Higher Education Division will fix the schedule for the digital lottery, while the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education will run the lottery centrally.

According to the national education policy, a first grader must be admitted at the age of six years. Admission to the other grades should follow the subsequent age limit.

A student can opt for a maximum of five schools in their list of choices. If they choose two shifts in the same school, it will be considered two choices.

Each section of a grade will admit 55 students. The policy said that if some seats in a class remain vacant, students mentioned on the wait list will be allowed for admission.

A 2.0 per cent quota will be reserved for students with special needs and 5.0 per cent for the siblings of existing students. At least 40 percent of the seats will be reserved for the students coming from the same neighbourhood of the school.

Children of staff members in the Secondary and Higher Education Division will have 2 percent of seats reserved for them in government schools in metropolitan areas, districts, and divisions.

In case the number of applicants for the reserved seats surpasses the total number of seats, a lottery will be used to admit the students.