Sadly, public universities in Bangladesh aren't "English Medium Friendly".

 Bangladesh, a country with 166.3 million people and only '40' public universities. The reason why this number is so important is because every year, more than 800,000 students fight for a total number of 47,636 seats bringing immense pressure on each and every one of them, and even more on English Medium Students. 

Bangla Medium Vs. English Medium?

Whenever someone hears that a student is from English Medium, they presume that they either will go abroad or in private universities for their further studies, but that is not the case for many. The two options mentioned are extremely cost bearing and not everyone can afford it just because they could manage till the A levels financially.

Thus, many students dream of entering public universities. The financial aspect is not the only reason, public universities in Bangladesh are considered exceptionally prestigious and just getting the opportunity to study in one is a praiseworthy achievement in Bangladesh. 

Bangla medium students have more advantage than English Medium students when it comes to the admission tests of public universities. The question papers are based on syllabi of HSC exams giving the Bangla Medium students an edge. It is a common fact known that Bangla Medium students have a very different approach to education than English Medium. Moreover, they already have the syllabi in mind as the admission tests are held right after the HSC examination. 

 Bangla Medium curriculum covers a vast array of information in the form of memorizing rather than proper implication whereas, in English medium curriculum, even though the information covered is comparatively smaller, it is assured that its proper implication is learnt giving memorizing the least priority. And most importantly, both the curricula uses two completely different languages as their primary language of learning.

The Edexcel board gives the option to be done with their A-levels by January, which give them roughly nine months to prepare for admission tests as they usually take place in October, but if the students opt for May, they only have about four months. Cambridge board on the other hand complete it on June just giving three months to prep. 

Why is it not English Medium "Friendly"?

There are more than 146 English medium schools in the country thus thousands of students are not familiar with the ways of the National Board Curriculum. The public universities of Bangladesh are under the government, and knowing that a big percentage of students in the country are from English Medium, the admission tests still follows the way that benefits the students of Bangla Medium students.

Question paper based on HSC syllabi, usage of pure Bangla language in the question paper and falling of the admission date right after HSC can been as an inconsiderate method followed against the English Medium students, knowingly or unknowingly. 

Adding to the struggles an English Medium student might face attending the admission tests, the preparation for these admission tests are a hassle itself. The coaching centers for these admission tests are mostly situated in areas that faces huge traffic such as Farmgate, Banasree and+ Shantinagar. 

These are considered as areas with least number of English medium schools around, making interested English medium candidates spend huge time travelling just for these classes. And even if these classes are joined and attended, the materials and way these coaching classes provide information can be overwhelming for an English medium student. The content covered in these classes are vast and also mostly taught in Bangla. To absorb so much with little to no time in hand can be a massive undertaking. 

How can it be "befriended"?

After doing overwhelming classes, sitting in traffic for hours and going through immense pressure and getting crushed by expectations, when an English medium student goes to attend the admission test, the results still majority of times are upsetting for us, 

Rejection from various public institutions often causes one to be depressed. The only option then gets left is the solace of private universities which costs an amount non-copious by most. Life just feels unfair at that time. 

As mentioned, the public universities are under government and yet nothing has been done to make the exams lenient and convenient for English medium students. To see a better education system in the country is a dream to all and there are many ways the government can choose to make it happen.

For starters, the government can change the public intake from once a year to at least twice, this would allow the disheartened English medium students another chance without loosing an entire year. The pattern of the questions can be formatted to balance between both Bangla and English medium curriculum. 

Just like how it is in Bangla medium schools, the English medium schools should also be pushed to encourage their students for studying in public universities and to start prepping from an early age which we aren't taught much. More coaching classes should be around the English medium schools to make their journey a bit easier. 

Most importantly, for these public universities, if one student wishes to study in science sector, they have to give all 3 subjects, Physics, Chemistry and Biology in A levels, which isn't the case for studying abroad. For example, in order to study in Medical, one does not need Physics in abroad but in Bangladesh it is mandatory.

Thus, the fact that both the curricula are completely different from each other is completely disregarded putting immense pressure on an English medium student as 3 subjects in A levels is a huge deal. 

In order to make the public institutions English medium friendly, the difference between the curricula has to be acknowledged. As someone who is currently in a private university, I can vouch that the cost is unbearable at times but the hope of getting into a public university was far from reality.

 The hope is that in future, the opportunities will be improved so that the coming generation would not have to pen their pain of not getting into a public university in a blog and would be able to better their future in the race of life.