Dhaka, Nov. 26 -- More than 359,000 students have applied online for admission to grades 1 through 9 at government and private schools across Bangladesh in five days since the window opened.

Government institutions received nearly twice as many applications as available seats, reflecting a familiar pattern, while private schools report far lighter demand.

"Across the country, 260,244 students have applied for 121,030 seats at 688 government schools," said Prof Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel, member of the Dhaka Metropolitan Admission Committee, on Tuesday.

"At 3,360 private schools offering 1,072,251 seats, we have received 98,762 applications," said Moinuddin, who is also a director of the Secondary Admissions Branch of the Directorat...