The ward quota has been officially abolished at Rajshahi University (RU).
The decision was finalized during a meeting of the admission committee and the sub-admission committee on Sunday.
Confirming the matter, the university's Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Farid Uddin Khan, said: "Today, a meeting of the admission committee and sub-admission committee was held, and the decision to abolish the ward quota was upheld."
Previously, students had been demanding the abolition of the ward quota since September last year.
As a result, the university administration decided to reduce the ward quota from 4% to 3%.
However, the students rejected this decision and began protesting.
In response to their demands, an admission notice was issued on January 1, keeping a 1% quota for the children of support staff and general employees.
Despite this, the students rejected the decision as well.
The next day, some students locked the administrative building and staged protests, holding more than 100 officials and employees captive for nearly 12 hours.
Consequently, the Vice Chancellor was compelled to announce the complete abolition of the ward quota that night.
In response to this decision, officials and employees have started protesting, demanding the reinstatement of the ward quota.
The initial application process for admission to the first-year undergraduate program of the 2024-25 academic session at Rajshahi University (RU) will begin on January 27.
It will start at 12pm on Monday and continue until 11:59pm, on February 5.
The preliminary application fee has been reduced from Tk55 to Tk22, including service charges.
This information was provided in a press release signed by the university's Public Relations Office Administrator, Professor Akhtar Hossain Majumder, on Sunday.
According to the written notice, after the preliminary application process concludes on February 5, the final application process will be conducted in three phases: from February 11 to 15, February 18 to 20, and February 23 to 24.
As per the pre-determined schedule, the admission tests for the Faculty of Business's 'B' Unit will be held on April 12, for the Faculty of Humanities 'A' Unit on April 19, and for the Faculty of Science's 'C' Unit on April 26.
The tests will take place from 11am to 12pm at public university campuses located in Rajshahi, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rangpur.