Government sets quota for families of July Uprising victims in school admissions

The interim government has decided to allocate a quota in public secondary school admissions for the families of those wounded and killed in the July Uprising, according to bdnews24.com.

Alongside the children of valiant Liberation War freedom fighters, 5.0 per cent of total seats in public secondary schools will now be reserved for the families of the uprising’s victims.

The interim government’s education ministry, formed after the quota reform movement and the subsequent political transition following the uprising, has issued an order implementing this quota.

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, or DSHE, published the directive on Sunday and instructed the heads of government secondary schools and school-and-college institutions to take necessary steps accordingly.

The order, issued by the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the ministry, was signed by Deputy Secretary Rahima Akter of the government secondary branch.

Rahima told bdnews24.com, “Until now, the children of valiant and martyred freedom fighters were entitled to a 5.0 per cent quota in government school admissions. From now on, families of those wounded and "martyred" in the uprising will also receive this benefit.

“The directive states that 5.0 per cent of total seats must be reserved for both categories,” she said.

Applicants from these categories must submit verified copies of relevant documents or gazettes with their application and present the original copies during admission.

The Secondary and Higher Education Division has instructed authorities to verify the authenticity of freedom fighter certificates issued by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs and the gazettes listing "martyrs" of the July Uprising before completing the admission process.

If no applicants from these categories are available, the reserved seats must be filled from the general merit list, ensuring that no seats remain vacant.

So far, the government has officially gazetted a list of 834 martyrs from the July Uprising.

A list of the wounded has also been prepared and is set to be gazetted soon.