The authorities of Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday decided not to provide any grace marks to the applicants who failed to pass in the admission test under the brood quota in 2014-15 academic session. The brood quota is for the family members of officers and employees of the university.
The decision was made in a meeting of university’s central admission test conduct committee yesterday morning at the administrative office with JU Vice Chancellor Prof Farzana Islam presiding over the programme.
JU Deputy Registrar (Education) Mohammad Ali yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “The committee has decided not to provide any grace marks to those aspirants under brood quota, who failed in the admission test.”
The general teachers and students of the university including students and teachers’ different socio-cultural and political organisations welcomed the decision. Yesterday in the morning, around 150 teachers and students under the banner of “Shikkhok-Shikkharthi Oikyomoncho” formed a human chain on university’s Shaheed Minar premises around 10.30am protesting irregularities under brood quota.
In the admission test of 2014-15 academic session under the brood quota only 43 applicants of 139 passed securing 35% marks. The officers and employees of the university had launched a movement to admit the remaining 96 aspirants by giving them minimum grace marks. Earlier, they had also called a general strike in the university to press home their demand.
However, the general teachers and students under the “Oikyomoncho” submitted a memorandum in this regard to JU VC and presented their three-point demand which stated: Stopping grace marking for any special community violating university’s rules, determining seats under all quotas and bringing them under competition, and admitting authentic applicants under freedom fighter quota by forming a committee.
Asked about the three-point demand of teachers and students regarding quota, JU Deputy Registrar and central admission test conduct committee’s secretary member Mohammad Ali told the Dhaka Tribune: “The committee decided not to give any grace marks and the seat numbers under different quotas are already fixed. Applicants under the freedom fighter quota get admitted according to their attained marks in admission test.”
Welcoming the decision of the authorities, the teachers and students of “Oikyomoncha” withdrew their movement in the afternoon yesterday. Philosophy department Associate Professor Raihan Rhyne said they appreciated the initiative from the authorities and also demanded to legislate an act for admitting applicants under quotas.
JU Workers’ Association President Aynal Haque told the journalists that they would discuss the matter in their next general meeting of the union today whereby further decisions would come after the meeting.