SUST students protest against discriminatory quotas and high fees

Sylhet, 4 Jan --Students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) have staged a protest demanding the abolition of discriminatory quotas in the university’s admission exams and a reduction in various fees.

The protest took place on the university premises at 4:30 pm on Saturday.

The students called for the elimination of all types of discriminatory quotas, as well as a reduction in admission, semester, and credit fees.

Arman, a student from the Department of Political Studies, said: "Discrimination has not yet been eradicated in the country. While the admission fee for the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exam has been reduced to Tk 200, it is unacceptable that students are being charged an application fee of Tk 1,200.”

“We urged the university administration to reduce all types of fees as soon as possible," he said.

Mohammad Shakil, a student from the Department of Sociology, said "The discrimination we aimed to eliminate for a fairer society has not ended. The main goal of the July Movement was to properly assess merit, but quotas continue to take precedence over merit. This contradicts the very spirit of the July Revolution.”

He added, ‘Only quotas for backward communities should remain, but the students admitted under the meritorious quota mostly come from highly educated and wealthy families. This is extreme discrimination, and it is an insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution.’"

Kiran Hawlader, a student from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science, said: "We have been demanding a reduction in application, admission, semester, and credit fees for a long time.”

“Although the university administration has given assurances, no action has been taken so far.”

“We are warning that we should not have to take to the streets to resolve issues that can be settled through dialogue," Kiran added.

The protesters have called for the postponement of the application process, which is scheduled to begin on 5 January, until the fees are revised.