In a new round of demonstrations yesterday, medical college applicants in Rajshahi demanded the annulment of this year’s medical college entrance examination results and demanded that fresh exams be held.
Several hundred placard-wielding protesters congregated on the footpath opposite the main gate of Rajshahi Medical College yesterday, where they formed a human chain between 10 and 11am.
Around noon yesterday several hundred medical college aspirants in the capital began a demonstration at Shaheed Minar on the Dhaka University campus, later moving to Shahbagh crossing.
Police blocked their path in front of the National Public Library, where they staged a sit-in until around 2pm.
The aggrieved students said question papers had been leaked on Facebook the night before and on the morning of the exam. Test-takers said the actual exam they took was identical to one of the leaked question papers, and demanded that the results be nullified and fresh exams held.
Outrage over the question paper leak even prompted a prominent human rights organisation to jump into the fray.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman in a press release yesterday said the actions of the authorities had raised questions about the acceptability of the exam results, terming the action of the authorities “negligent.”
Such negligence would destroy the country’s higher education system, the TIB press release said.
Earlier, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested several University Grants Commission (UGC) officials, teachers and criminals for their alleged involvement in the question paper leak.
One medical college applicant, Jannatul Mawa, was seen weeping at Gabtoli Bus Terminal as she waited for a Jhenaidah-bound bus.
When asked what was wrong, she said: “If just anyone can cheat their way into medical college, what is the point of studying so hard?”
“All the opportunity is for those who can pay big money; for the meritorious there is nothing.”
