Guide for students

What the service semester would mean for you: what you would do, what you would gain, what you would pay (nothing extra), how you are protected, and how the booking actually happens.

The short version

One semester of your degree (16 weeks, ~30 hours/week) happens inside a government office instead of a classroom. You do real, useful work matched to your subject, under a named supervisor. You keep paying your normal university fees — no new fee. You graduate with work experience and a verifiable national certificate.

Am I eligible?

Question	Answer
Which students take part?	Eligible undergraduate students at participating universities — public, private (108) and international (2) — in the verified 173-university directory.
At which point of my degree?	At an eligible degree stage set by your university — not necessarily the final semester. Two placement windows per year fit normal semester calendars.
Is it compulsory?	In the baseline design it is a graduation requirement, which for a nationwide compulsory rule needs new legislation. Early phases are voluntary, credit-bearing pilots. Your university decides how it integrates the credits.
Is it paid?	There is no salary or universal stipend in the baseline model. A need-based travel & living support fund (Tk 1,800–3,600 per supported student) targets low-income students placed away from home.
Do I pay anything extra?	No. You continue paying your existing university fees only. The 2010 Private University Act fee framework and the 2023 fee-change lock legally reinforce this for private universities.

What would I actually do? (real examples by subject)

Public Administration / Law / Management

Citizen help desks and form-filling assistance at DC offices and upazila complexes; file tracking and archive organization; certificate application support; trade-licence desk support.

Education / Languages / Sciences

After-school tutoring in government primary schools (grades 3–5); attendance register digitization; library organization; science-fair support across school clusters.

Public Health / Biology / Psychology

Patient guidance and registration support at hospitals; queue management; immunization campaign support; health-education sessions — with hygiene and privacy training first.

CSE / EEE / IT

Portal usability testing; citizen-service content digitization; assistive-technology reviews; digital-centre citizen support at Union Digital Centres.

Statistics / Economics / Sociology

Survey data entry, cleaning and validation at BBS; beneficiary-list verification support; research compilation (observer seats at institutions like Bangladesh Bank).

Agriculture / Environment / Social Work

Farmer field-school support; crop-cut surveys; air-quality station visits; old-age-home service support; grievance desk assistance.

The full sector-to-discipline mapping with tasks, training and outputs for every sector is in the Sectors & Discipline Mapping page and dataset CSV 14–15.

Your rights and protections (the rights charter)

Named supervision at all times — a trained workplace coordinator; never more students per supervisor than the 1:10 standard allows.
No statutory powers — you never exercise legal authority, sign official decisions, handle cash, or access confidential personal files.
Safe, lawful tasks only — every task comes from a published catalogue; anything outside it is refused and reportable.
Insurance — group accident & medical insurance for every participant (market products from Tk 10,000 sum insured).
Accessibility — disability accommodations and assistive materials are a design requirement, not an afterthought.
Grievance channel — complaints acknowledged and a grievance officer assigned within 72 hours; retaliation for complaining is itself a programme violation.
Academic fairness — duration-neutrality is monitored: the programme must not delay your graduation versus matched peers; appeals have a published procedure.
Data protection — your personal records follow the platform privacy policy; confidential office data stays with the office.

How your placement is booked (and what you control)

1 · Your university verifies your eligibilityFrom official student records — you never self-declare.

2 · You browse approved seats and express preferencesYou see every seat your university is approved for: tasks, location, hours, supervisor. Preferences are advisory.

3 · Your university books you (provisionally)The university makes the official booking — students cannot alter bookings, allocations, attendance or completion records.

4 · The host office confirmsOnly then does the placement activate, and you receive instructions, training and safety information.

5 · You serve 16 weeksDaily attendance, real tasks, weekly progress — all visible to you in your portal.

6 · Triangulated verification → certificateHost + university + platform must all agree. You receive a digital certificate with a public verification code.

What you gain

📜Verified certificateA national completion certificate with a public verification code any employer can check.See it in the demo → 💼Real experience16 weeks of supervised government work on your CV — with named referees.Try the student portal → 🧭ClarityAnswers to the most common student questions in the FAQ.Read the FAQ →

Try it now

The Student Portal demo puts you in Nusrat's shoes: browse the seat catalogue, see her placement, attendance, progress milestones and certificate — then try the whole workflow from the other roles too.