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The Jahangirnagar University administration has announced that it is scrapping ward quotas in admissions in the face of student protests.
Vice-Chancellor Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan announced the cancellation of the ward quotas in the presence of student protesters in front of the university's registrar building around midnight on Tuesday.
He said that the decision to "completely cancel" the quota was taken in an emergency meeting of the university's central admissions and test management committee.
"Students have been protesting for the past few days demanding the cancellation of the university's ward quota,” he said. “In light of their demands, we spoke with the leaders of the [university’s] officials and employees today. During the discussion, they expressed their opinion in favour of abolishing the ward quota, taking into account the role of the guardians of the students."
The vice-chancellor said that a notification to abolish the quota will be issued on Wednesday, bdnews24.com reports.
The Anti-discrimination Student Movement began a hunger strike in front of the university's administrative building on Sunday to demand the abolition of the ward quota.
That night they called off their programme after assurances from the administration, but resumed it the following day. On Monday night, the administration announced a new decision on the ward quota.
The administration said that from now on, instead of an unspecified number being admitted under the ward quota, 40 seats would be allocated for them every year. To be admitted under the quota, the applicant must obtain at least 40 percent of the marks in the admission test. It also specified that an employee could only use the ward quota once.
But officials and employees at the university demanded that admissions under the ward quota should remain under the previous rules. The university's Officers and Employees Unity Council announced a continuous strike demanding the abolition of all conditions related to the ward quota and the reinstatement of the old rules.
The university’s officials and employees held a protest in front of the registrar’s building on Tuesday afternoon. The students, pushing for the complete abolition of the ward quota, led a protest march from Bottola and circled the various residential halls before ending in a rally in front of the administrative building.
The students locked the administrative building during the protest, trapping the teachers, officials and employees inside.
The vice chancellor then came and spoke to the students, asking them for four hours to resolve the issue.
The students then gave the administration a deadline of 9pm. When the deadline passed, they gathered at the administrative building once again and chanted various slogans.
After midnight, the vice chancellor and administrative officials came outside and announced the abolition of the ward quota.