The much-awaited uniform admission test or Central Admission Test (CAT) is going to be introduced for enrolling students at the public universities in the country.

The universities are all set to introduce the uniform admission test from this academic year to reduce hassles of admission seekers and their guardians during entry test in the higher education institutions.

Thirty-three public universities out of 39 have agreed to hold the uniform admission test under several clusters to enrol the students.

However, six other universities — Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong University, Bangladesh University of Professionals and Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology — opted out of the system.

Talking to the Daily Sun, University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof Dr Kazi Shahidullah on Monday said at least 33 out of 39 public universities will admit students’ through cluster system admission tests this year.

“We are hopeful that the remaining universities, including Dhaka University, will join it next time. If Dhaka University joins and leads the system, then it will be easier for us to conduct the admission test.”

“There is no alternative to introducing the system to mitigate the sufferings of admission seekers,” said Prof Shahidullah

UGC sources said out of the 33 universities, 19 general, science and technology universities, seven agricultural universities and seven engineering and specialised universities will enrol students through cluster system admission tests.

Of them, 19 universities already announced the procedures and conditions for applying for the admission test on Saturday.

The vice-chancellors (VCs) of the 19 universities at a meeting on Saturday decided that there would be three exams in the test — one each for science, humanities and business studies students — based on higher secondary certificate (HSC) exams syllabus.

The test will be held at all the 19 universities and students who passed HSC and equivalents exams this year and 2019 with a certain GPA will be eligible to sit in the exam.

There would only be multiple choice questions in the exams and a student would get a score between 0 and 100. Students of science, humanities and business, who want to switch to other disciplines, will no longer be required to sit for an additional exam.

The minimum GPA required for science students would be seven, combining the SSC and HSC results. The requirements for business students would be 6.5 and humanities students 6. But anyone with a GPA below 3 in either exam will not be eligible for the exam.

would be up to the individual universities to decide whether to take SSC and HSC results into their consideration in the admission process and whether to give a chance to second time admission seekers.

Humanities students will need to answer 40-mark Bangla, 35-mark English and 25-mark ICT 25 questions. Business students will get 25-mark accounting, 25-mark management, 13-mark Bangla, 12-mark English and 25-mark ICT questions.

A science student will get 10-mark English, 10-mark Bangla, 20-mark Chemistry, 20-mark Physics and 20-mark questions on any two subjects from ICT, mathematics and biology.

The 19 public universities are Jagannath University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Comilla University, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Khulna University, Begum Rokeya University, Islamic University, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Pabna University of Science and Technology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, University of Barishal, Rangamati Science and Technology University, Rabindra University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Digital University, Bangamata Sheikh Fojilatunnesa Mujib Science and Technology University and Sheikh Hasina University.

Meanwhile, Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, in principle, decided to form another cluster.

The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh University of Textiles, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University have also shown interest in joining this cluster.

On the other hand, seven agricultural and agricultural subjects-based public universities formed another cluster to hold the admission. The universities are Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Sylhet Agricultural University, Khulna Agricultural University, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and Patuakhali Science and Technology University.

Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University is also interested in joining this cluster.

Over one million students pass the HSC and its equivalent exams every year, and the public universities admit around 65,000 students as there is huge competition to get a sit in these universities.

Last year, 32 out of the 39 public universities held separate admission tests, and the remaining seven agricultural universities held a cluster admission test.

Earlier, the education ministry in 2010 had decided in principle to introduce uniform admission tests to cut down the suffering and expenditure of admission seekers.

Besides, in February 2018 when the VCs went to meet President Abdul Hamid, who is also the Chancellor of all public universities of the country, at Bangabhaban, he asked the VCs to introduce a unified admission test.

But the UGC could not introduce the admission test in the last 11 years as some top public universities had been opposing the idea in fear of losing income from the admission process.