RU abolishes ward quota

Rajshahi University (RU) admission committee on Sunday officially abolished the ward quota system in their entrance test.

Confirming the decision, RU Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Farid Uddin Khan said that a meeting held upon the matter and the decision on abolishing ward quota has been upheld. 

The ward quota, introduced by former vice-chancellor Prof Abdul Bari, allowed children of RU's faculty, officers and staff to gain admission by merely passing the competitive admission exam.

Following the matter, RU students� had been demanding to abolish the quota system since September 2024. According to their demand the authority reduced the quota from 4 percent to 3 percent at last year. However, students protested again upon the decision. 

Further, the authority reduced ward quota to one percent and published a press release on January 1. But the students protested against the decision also and locked the administrative building with hundreds of staffs inside the building for around 12 hours and the VC was forced to announce the complete abolition of this quota.

On the other hand, the RU staffs expressed dissatisfaction and warned to stage protest against the abolishment.