Students protest new DU admission rules:Daily Sun

Admission-seekers stage a demonstration at TSC on Dhaka University (DU) campus on Friday, demanding cancellation of the authorities’ decision not to allow second-timers to sit for admission tests. sun Photo Admission seekers on Friday staged a demonstration on the Dhaka University campus demanding cancellation of the DU authority’s decision for not to allow students to sit for the DU admission tes
t for the second time. Several hundred HSC-passed students from different educational institutions under the banner of ‘Shadharon Shikharti Brinda’ gathered at Raju Bhaskarja near TSC of DU at around 10:00 am to press home their demand. The students will also stage demonstration programme tomorrow (Sunday) at the same place at 10:00am, they said. The admission seekers said they did not get enough time to take preparation for the admission test this year as the DU authority arranged the admission test just after their HSC examination. “Most of the students who passed the admission test are the second-time candidates, so the decision is a blow to us” they said. Police intercepted the protesters at around 1:30 pm when they attempted to march towards the Shahbagh intersection. Serajul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station, told daily sun that they had barred them from gathering at Shahbagh to avert any untoward situation. Talking to daily sun, Arifur Rahman, a HSC-passed student from Residential Model School and College of the capital, alleged that the DU authority has taken the decision abruptly. “They can introduce the new system from 2016-2017 academic session,” he said. Many leftist students’ bodies, including Chhatra Federation, Chatra Union, Somajtrantrik Chatra front also expressed solidarity with the protesters. When contacted, DU Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique said the protesters have the rights to stage demonstration, but the DU authority has nothing to do in this regard. Traditionally, DU used to allow admission seekers to sit for tests twice after their HSC exams. On October 14, Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique declared to allow only freshers to appear in the DU admission tests for a single year from the 2015-16 academic session, aiming to create an equal opportunity for all the aspirants.