Dhaka, March 21 -- The government has decided to shut down lower secondary classes in public primary schools in accordance with the latest National Education Policy.

The 729 government primary schools that had been running grades six to eight on a trial basis will discontinue these grades starting next year.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has instructed that no new students be admitted to grades six to eight in these schools from the 2026 academic year.

Masud Akhtar Khan, additional secretary of the School Division at the ministry, told media on Thursday morning, "We want to focus on primary education, so government primary schools will only offer education up to the fifth grade.

"An administrative decision has been made t...