Despite having the required credentials, 14 students were not allowed to sit for the undergraduate entrance exams for the 2018-19 academic year at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
University authorities said the students were barred from sitting for the exams- scheduled to be held on October 7- due to a shortage of seats.
Students and guardians have protested against this step, calling it an "inhuman" act to eliminate eligible candidates before giving them a chance to sit for the entrance exams.
According to university sources, this year, about 13,000 students have applied for 1,060 seats in civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering and architecture and urban planning departments.
Among the 13,000, about 1,000 students became disqualified to sit for the exams due to incongruities in online application, wrong information, lack of required credentials and delay in admission fee submission, according to sources from the Buet entrance exam committee.
Later, Buet published a list of 12,000 students under 10 general boards, and 138 students from English medium backgrounds, who are eligible to sit for the exams.
However, due to a lack of sufficient number of seats, the list excluded 14 other students- even after they had fulfilled all required criteria.
According to the admissions circular published this year, candidates would be eligible to apply if they scored a minimum grade point of 22.5, combining the scored grade points in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Bangla and English subjects in HSC exams and a minimum of GPA-4 in SSC exams.
To participate in the admission test, the applicant's score in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry in the HSC exams, respectively, will be given preference. Applicants, until 12,000 will thus be selected.
Deputy Registrar of Buet Kamal Ahmed said on Wednesday: "For exam candidates, we have a total capacity of 12,000 seats. Any additional candidates will not be allowed. The circular specifically mentioned this. We have been following this rule for the last few years."
Talking on this subject, 2018-19 admission test committee President and Dean of architecture and urban planning departments Prof Farida Nilufar said: "This year, the number of eligible candidates stood at 12,014. However, due to the maximum seat capacity of 12,000, the other 14 students will not be allowed to sit for the admission test.
"A further 138 candidates from English medium backgrounds have also been selected," Nilufar added. "In total, a total of 12,138 candidates have been selected. The list has been published."
Nilufar assured that the 14 deprived students would have their admission fees refunded.
Last year, in a similar manner, nearly 1,000 students were barred from sitting for the admission test.
The deprived students claimed that, not allowing a student with the right credentials to sit for the entrance exam is an unethical practice. A student with a relatively poor score in HSC can still have a chance to get admitted, with a good preparation, the students said.
Guardians and students have demanded for the removal of the discriminatory selection process, as it does not value the merit of the candidates.
A deprived candidate among the 14 said: "This is discriminatory, as someone- even after fulfilling all criteria to sit for the admission test- has been excluded from the list of candidates. The ones who achieved a relatively poorer score in the SSC and HSC exams can still take good preparations and get ahead of those with better SSC/HSC score in the admission test."
A guardian echoed similar sentiments, complaining that a meritorious student might get their dreams crushed because of the authorities' discriminatory selection process.