By Najiur Rahman Sohel 

DHAKA, Jan 20,2026 (BSS) - The government has taken a major initiative to ensure that no meritorious student's education is disrupted due to financial hardship, with a plan to provide direct admission assistance to more than 17,500 insolvent students every year from secondary to undergraduate level.

Under this initiative, financial assistance will be disbursed from the Prime Minister's Education Assistance Trust (PMEAT). To implement the expanded support, the Ministry of Education is in the final stage of revising the existing 2020 guidelines.

Assistant Director (Scholarships) of PMEAT, Professor Mohammad Anwar Hossain confirmed the development to BSS. 

He said a meeting was held at the Ministry of Education on January 8 to finalize the draft of the new guidelines, titled "Guidelines for Providing Admission Assistance to Meritorious Students from Financially Insecure Families Admitted to Educational Institutions, 2025."

The proposed guidelines-2025 was approved in the meeting, and after incorporating some amendments, the revised guidelines will be issued upon in-principle approval by the ministry.

Professor Mohammad Anwar, who is also the Member Secretary of the Preliminary Screening Committee for admission assistance, said that if the proposed guidelines are implemented, three times more students will receive admission assistance compared to the previous framework.

On January 8, a meeting chaired by Rehana Perven, Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education, gave in-principle approval to the draft guidelines with some amendments.

Senior Assistant Secretary Md. Rajibul Alam told BSS that the guideline is expected to be issued very soon in the form of an official order.

The proposed 2025 guidelines introduce significant changes compared to the existing 2020 guidelines, both in terms of coverage and financial support.

At the secondary level, currently five students in each upazila receive Tk 5,000 as admission assistance. Under the new guidelines, this number will increase to 20 students per upazila, with each receiving Tk 4,000.

At the higher secondary level, instead of the existing two students per upazila, assistance of Tk 6,000 will be provided to 10 students.

For the undergraduate level, where there was previously no specific quota, the new guidelines propose admission assistance of Tk 8,000 for a maximum of 2,000 meritorious students nationwide.

According to the working paper presented at the January 8 meeting, under the current 2020 guidelines, 5,619 students receive assistance annually at a cost of Tk 41,197,000. 

If the new guidelines are approved, 17,510 students will come under the program every year, with an estimated annual cost of Tk 88,380,000. The entire expenditure will be covered from PMEAT's own current funds.

Under the proposed guidelines, students will be eligible to apply if their guardians' annual income is less than Tk 3 lakh, an increase from the previous ceiling of Tk 2 lakh. 

In the case of government employees, special priority has been proposed for children of employees in grade 20, instead of the earlier provision covering grades 13 to 20.

Applicants must have secured at least 60 percent marks or an equivalent GPA in their previous examination. Priority will be given to students with disabilities, orphans, children of landless families, and children of freedom fighters.

To ensure transparency, the guidelines propose the formation of two committees: a Primary Screening and Selection Committee and a high-level Selection Committee.

The Primary Screening and Selection Committee will be headed by the Director of PMEAT, with the Assistant Director (Scholarships) serving as Member Secretary. 

The high-level Selection Committee will be chaired by the Managing Director of the Trust, with the Assistant Director (Scholarships) again acting as Member Secretary.

These committees will scrutinize applications and prepare the final list of beneficiaries. The approved assistance will be transferred directly to the students' online bank accounts or mobile banking platforms.

Assistant Director (Planning and Development) of PMEAT, Rezwana Akhter Jahan told BSS that the financial incentives are aimed at ensuring continued education for poor and meritorious students and preventing dropouts due to financial constraints.

She added that the updated guidelines were formulated to bring more talented students into the mainstream education system through timely reforms and expressed optimism that the ministry would approve them within the next week.

The Education Assistance Trust also noted that currently around 64 lakh students from grades 6 to 12 are receiving scholarships under its integrated scholarship program while 1.65 lakh students are getting stipend and tuition fees at graduate level.