Students demand MBBS admission test results be republished

Students have issued an ultimatum for the republication of medical admission test results for the 2024-25 academic year by today, calling for the abolition of all irrational quotas, including the freedom fighter quota.

The demand was made during a sit-in and protest rally today (20 January) at the Central Shaheed Minar at 11:30am. 

Students from Dhaka University also expressed solidarity with the protest. During the event, protesters raised various slogans.

"Yesterday, many candidates with 40 or 41 marks gained admission, while others who scored double that could not. Isn't this discrimination?," said Kumudini Women's Medical College Psychiatry Prof Dr Major (retd) Abdul Wahab.

"Since you have learned to protest, you must continue to fight for your rights on the streets," he said, urging the students.

Doha, a student of Dhaka Medical College, said, "After a successful movement demanding the abolition of discrimination, this kind of biased treatment in the medical admission exam should not happen. When the passing mark is 40, how can someone with 37 or 38 marks gain admission? We demand an end to this discrimination today."

Abir Hossain, a student of Sir Salimullah Medical College, said, "In previous years, students scoring slightly below the cutoff could gain admission through quotas. But this year, candidates with marks 30 to 35 below the cutoff have been admitted through the quota system, which is unacceptable. We demand the abolition of all quotas, including the freedom fighter quota, and the republication of the results today."

Mahin Sarkar, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, also expressed solidarity with the medical students, saying, "Even after the movement in Bangladesh, we see irrational quotas being implemented in medical colleges.

"Some students scoring 72 marks didn't gain admission, while others with 40 marks did. We demand the immediate republication of the medical admission results and the abolition of all irrational quotas in all universities and medical admission exams," he said.