CHITTAGONG,  30 July (Staff Reporter, CTG MAIL  )

Education stakeholders have called on the government to allow kindergarten (KG) school students to participate in the government-run primary scholarship examinations, urging authorities to reverse what they described as a discriminatory and unjust policy.

Speaking at a human chain and protest procession held in Chattogram, Professor A.K.M. Nurul Bashar Sujan, Central Vice Chairman of the Bangladesh Kindergarten Association and a leader of the Oikko Parishad, criticized the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education’s move to bar KG students from the Grade 5 scholarship examinations.

“For years, KG schools have operated under government guidelines. Their students have participated in public exams, including the fifth-grade scholarship and terminal exams, with success,” said Prof. Sujan. “However, following an administrative shift on August 5, the Ministry suddenly issued a suspension on kindergarten participation. This is unacceptable.”

He questioned the rationale behind the decision, asking: “If government school students are eligible for the scholarship exam, why should KG students be excluded? There cannot be two laws for children in the same country.”

Unfair Discrimination Alleged

The programme was moderated by Chattogram Divisional General Secretary Lion Luvna Humayun Sumy and chaired by Divisional President Lion Mohammad Kabirul Islam. The event was attended by a number of key figures including BKA Central Member Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Vice Presidents Mohammad Nazim Uddin Chowdhury and M.A. Matin, Treasurer Nurul Absar, Publicity Secretary Supolal Barua, Member Shiuli Barua, and several school administrators and educators.

In their speeches, they expressed deep concern over what they called the government’s “step-motherly behavior” towards kindergartens, despite their long-standing contribution to early childhood education.

“Kindergartens help shape children from the moment they begin to speak to the point where they become morally upright individuals. These schools are not competitors to public education but are its collaborators,” said the General Secretary. “We respectfully urge the government to abandon this exclusionary policy.”

Conspiracy to Undermine Private Education?

In his remarks, President Kabirul Islam warned that a group of officials may be conspiring to exclude KG students out of envy toward their continued academic success, despite lacking access to government resources.

“Kindergartens perform well without government funding. Some officials, driven by this contrast, may be attempting to discredit these institutions by blocking their students from scholarship opportunities. This is a deliberate attempt to make the government appear biased,” he alleged.

Speakers concluded the programme by demanding an immediate reversal of the ministry’s directive and called on the government to ensure equal opportunity for all students—regardless of the type of institution they attend.