Tea workers demand quota in SAU admission

Members of the tea workers community and several rights organisations on Thursday demanded a special quota for children of tea workers in the admission process of Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU).

Tea Workers Students Welfare Trust, Cha Janagosthy Chhatra Jubo Kalyan Parishad, University Tea Students Sangsad and several other organisations jointly submitted a memorandum to Prof Matiar Rahman Howladar, the university’s vice chancellor (VC), mentioning their demand of reserving seats for at least four tea workers’ children.

Sojol Chotri, convener of Tea Workers Students Welfare Trust, said, “The tea workers community has become a major part of the country’s social economy but they are always deprived of facilities, even of their basic humanitarian needs. Sylhet is identified for its tea gardens, but ironically tea workers are mostly neglected regarding education.”

So far, there are special quotas for tea workers’ children at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, and Asian University for Women.

SAU VC said, “A prosperous country cannot be built by leaving anyone deprived of their rights. We will discuss the demand at the meetings of the syndicate and academic councils and will try to reserve seats for at least two students.”

During the submission of the memorandum, Caritas Sylhet region’s education section chief Piyus Nanowar, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum’s member Narayan Kurmi, SAU Assistant Professor Subrata Koiri, Cha Janagosthy Chhatra Jubo Kalyan Parishad Vice President Barun Singha Chotri, University Tea Sangsad Advisor Balaram Nairu and several others were present.