Education Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said she is hopeful that all public universities will introduce a uniform admission test system by next year.

Seven public agricultural universities are going to introduce the uniform admission test this year, which will be held on November 30, she informed the parliament.

"The implementation work for uniform admission system is continuing. We hope that all public universities will introduce the system by 2020," the minister said while replying a starred question of BNP MP Harunur Rashid.

The government has been trying to introduce a uniform admission test for public universities for the last nine years to ease the hassle of admission seekers and their guardians.

The education ministry in 2010 decided on principle to introduce the cluster system, in order to relieve admission seekers and the pressure they face while preparing for separate tests for separate universities.

Officials said that Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sylhet Agricultural University, Khulna Agricultural University, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, and Patuakhali Science and Technology University will introduce the cluster

admission system this year.

Under the system, admission seekers would be enrolled at public universities based on the merit list prepared from one single test for each discipline.

For example, students interested in engineering and technology would take one uniform test that covers all public universities in this field, while students interested in agriculture would take a separate test for this discipline.

This would relieve admission seekers from the wasted time, extra cost and travels required to take separate admission tests for different public universities. Currently, only medical colleges have a uniform entrance test.

There are 45 public universities in the country.

The other 38 public universities will hold separate admission tests this year, said officials of the education ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC).

President Abdul Hamid, also chancellor of all public universities, in February last year asked all universities to form a uniform admission system.

However, the decision has not yet been implemented fully.

Education ministry officials said that some public universities have been opposing the idea of the "cluster system" from the beginning, as its implementation would cut the income from sale of admission forms, invigilation and checking answer scripts.