Candidates, guardians satisfied over Buet entry test

The family of Ifti Ahsan were against her sitting for the entry exam at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) in the aftermath of the murder of Abrar Fahad in his dorm.

"Scared by the ongoing unrest over Abrar Fahad's murder on Buet campus, they did not want me to take the test. I was also afraid," said Ifti.

"But I was not ready to let my dream fall apart. I somehow convinced them.

"Now all my fears and hesitations have disappeared – I found everything normal on the campus," Ifti said.

Another admission candidate, Rocky Chowdhury was scared himself.

"I have always dreamt about studying at Buet. But I had decided not to take the admission test following the gruesome murder of Abrar Fahad on the campus," he said.

It was Rocky's friends who convinced him otherwise.

"I have come to take the test on my friends' request," he said.

"During the test, I found the teachers very cordial and responsible. Now I am hopeful that no untoward incident will happen at Buet in future if the university authorities supervise everything strictly," he added.

Not just candidates, the guardians also expressed satisfaction over yesterday's atmosphere at Buet.

"I never support aggressive student politics, especially on Buet campus. The murder of Abrar definitely tarnished the image of the reputed university. But I feel good today as the university authorities banned student politics and started sealing off illegally occupied rooms. I am happy to see the authority's determination to run Buet without any political influence," said Abul Awad, a guardian of an admission seeker.

There have been anxious speculations about how the Buet admission test for the session 2019-20 would go.

Protesting students had postponed their programmes for two days for the admission test.

The test was held yesterday from 9am to 12 noon without any incident.

A total of 12,000 candidates took the test for 1,060 seats.

In the last few years, leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League would be seen greeting the admission seekers.

The scenario was different yesterday as the university authority had banned all political activities on the campus.

A good number of law enforcers were deployed in and outside the campus to prevent any form of disturbance during the admission test.

The protesting students were seen distributing pens and water to the admission seekers.

"We will run Buet following the rules and regulations of the university. From now on, no one will get any chance to violate these codes of conduct," Director of Students' Welfare Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman told The Business Standard.

Buet Vice-Chancellor Prof Saiful Islam thanked the students and their guardians for coming yesterday. He also expressed his gratitude to the teachers, students and officials of Buet for holding the admission test successfully.

"I hope the new comers will not face any hassle or torture on the campus as we have taken some strict policies to prevent such malpractices," the VC said.