Rajshahi University (RU) students locked the university's administrative building this morning, demanding abolishment of the ward quota that reserves seats for children and wards of the university's employees.
They took position in front of the building around 10:00am, locking university officials inside.
Following months-long protests, RU administration decreased the ward quota from three percent to one percent following a meeting yesterday. The ward quota would now be available only to applicants who are children or wards of the university's workers, as opposed to children and wards of all university employees (including teachers and officials) in the past.
However, protesting students said they locked the building as the authorities had failed to take any action in regard to abolishing the ward quota for the past five months despite repeated demands and discussions.
"We won't unlock the building until a notice, officially declaring the removal of the quota, is published," said Salahuddin Ammar, a student of Islamic Studies at the university who is also a RU coordinator for Students Against Discrimination, adding that they will not let the authorities conduct the admission tests for the 2024-25 academic year and warned of boycotting classes from January 5 if their demands are not met.
RU Public Relations Administrator Akhter Hossain Mazumder said, "I heard students locked the gate. It's quite normal. Students will perform their protest and we will do our work."
Source: the daily star