The scholarship examinations for primary school students will be held in the last week of December.

Primary and Mass Education Ministry has taken a decision in this regard.

The directorate of primary education had restarted the scholarship examinations last year after a decade amid the criticism of educationists. On June 11, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education through a letter has asked the Directorate of Primary Education to take necessary measures to organize the scholarship examination.

It said that the government decided to resume the scholarship exams in the last week of December 2023 in a bid to identify meritorious students.

Like previous year, based on the results of the annual examination, 10 per cent to 25 per cent students of the fifth graders will get an opportunity to participate in this examination.

On Thursday, directorate of primary education has instructed the officials in this regard.

Meanwhile, the introduction of the Primary Education Certificate exams in 2009 spelt the end of the separate scholarship exam. Students subsequently received a government stipend on the basis of their performance in the PEC exams.

However, the PEC exam has not been held for the last two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Later, the government announced that the test would be scrapped as a new curriculum was on the way.

Under these circumstances, the government decided to resume the scholarship exams in a bid to identify meritorious students.

At least 10 per cent of fifth graders in every school across the country will be able to take part in the scholarship exams.

The last PEC exam was held in 2019. Based on the results of the exam, more than 80,000 students were awarded a stipend in February 2020.