DHAKA : The results of the Primary Scholarship Examination, held to identify meritorious Class V students, were published this afternoon with a total of 79,246 students receiving scholarships across the country.

According to the published results, 32,965 students secured scholarships under the talent pool category, while 46,281 students received general scholarships.

Among the scholarship recipients, 35,892 are boys and 43,354 are girls, with girls outperforming boys in the overall success rate.

The results were formally announced by Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Hoque Milon at a press conference held at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka today. 

The event was attended by State Minister for Cultural Affairs Ali Newaz Mahmood Khyom, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajja, State Minister for Youth and Sports Md. Aminul Haque, the Prime Minister's Adviser on Education and Primary and Mass Education Mahdi Amin, and Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) Shahina Ferdousi, among others.

Speaking at the press conference, Shahina Ferdousi said that parents would be able to access the results online and through mobile SMS. The official online platform for checking the results is the IPEMIS portal.

The education minister said that 78,810 schools participated in this year's scholarship examination, including 65,605 government primary schools and 13,205 non-government schools.

According to official statistics, 419,982 students sat for the examination, including 344,127 students from government primary schools and 75,855 students from non-government institutions.

The minister said the results were prepared through a transparent and digital process using OMR answer sheets integrated with the IPEMIS software system.

District-wise statistics show that Dhaka district produced the highest number of scholarship recipients with 4,682 students, while the hill district of Bandarban recorded the lowest with 188 scholarship recipients. Dhaka also had the highest overall success rate, while Dinajpur recorded the highest failure rate.

The data further show that Thakurgaon district registered the highest attendance rate at 81.61 percent, while Narayanganj district recorded the highest absentee rate at 52.80 percent.

Replying to questions from journalists, Dr. Milon said the government had nearly doubled both the scholarship benefits and financial assistance this year.

"For more than a decade, the scholarship amount had remained unchanged. After assuming office, the present government decided to double the amount to encourage students further," he said.

Under the revised structure, the monthly stipend for talent pool scholarship recipients has been increased from Tk 300 to Tk 600, while the one-time grant has risen from Tk 225 to Tk 450. For general scholarship recipients, the monthly stipend has been increased from Tk 225 to Tk 450, and the one-time grant has also been raised from Tk 225 to Tk 450.

The minister also said that to ensure broader participation in talent identification, the government has allocated 80 percent of scholarships for government schools and 20 percent for non-government institutions, including kindergartens, so that no student is subjected to discrimination.

He further said the government is working to increase the budget and the number of stipends for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes, including graduate and semester-based stipends, in line with the directives of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.