DU Correspondent //

The interim government has set a 5 percent quota for admission to government schools for children of families killed in the July coup. The Students’ Rights Council is holding an emergency press conference on Monday. The organization organized the press conference at the Madhur Canteen of Dhaka University.

Speaking at the press conference, Bin Yamin Molla, President of the Students’ Rights Council, said that the family members of those killed or injured in the July coup have also been included in the quota system. We had a movement in 2018 to eliminate this quota discrimination. As a continuation of which, the quota reform movement started in 2024. At one point, Sheikh Hasina fell on August 5. But we see that less than 7 months have passed, the government has issued a notification that goes against the anti-discrimination spirit.

He said, we are clearly saying that there cannot be such a quota in admission to educational institutions.

The President of the Students’ Rights Council said that the quota reform movement in Bangladesh was led by students, youth, and the public. I want to clearly tell those who participated that we are not the only ones who own this country. Everyone in this country owns it. We think that the same way the liberation war was fought against a discriminatory state, the mass uprising in 2024 has taken place. This fight is basically for a non-discriminatory state institution.

Bin Yamin Molla said, there are still quotas in the railways and primary schools. But the government has not taken any decision on the quota there and has focused on the quota system in school admissions.

He also said, we have protested to prevent discrimination against students. This Student Rights Council was born. We have protested for the rights of students at Rajshahi University. We have protested against the pet quotas at Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, Chittagong, and Gopalganj universities. From that point, we are saying again that the quota system is in place and must be abolished. If not, the Student Rights Council will start an increasingly intense movement.

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