Abu Sayed passes written test

Abu Sayed stood with his arms stretched open, staring at the barrel of the law enforcer's gun. He was shot at close range. He fell on the ground within minutes, and died. The image of Abu Sayed, standing tall and looking down the barrel of guns before being cruelly killed, transformed a student protest against the discriminatory quota system in government jobs into a mass uprising. By the time Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled, Sayed had already become a national icon, with his graffiti etched on walls in and outside Dhaka.

The youngest of nine siblings, Sayed was a student of the English department at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur. Poverty had forced his elder brothers and sisters to abandon their education, but they all chipped in to ensure Sayed could continue his studies.

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They believed in his dreams, and he dreamt of joining the civil service, a job he believed would change his family's fate. This aspiration led him to participate in the quota reform protest.

Before the protests, Sayed had sat for the written portion of the 18th Teacher Registration Examination. The results were published by the Non-Government Teachers' Registration and Certification Authority yesterday.

Abu Sayed passed. His exam roll number was 201256297. He passed the English and Bangla subjects as a teacher (general) for the Ebtedaye section of madrasa. Anyone who passed the HSC can apply for the position and sit for exams.

Only if he were still alive his parents would have rejoiced, their sacrifices validated by his achievement. His brothers and sisters, who once had to forgo their own dreams, would have celebrated their youngest sibling.

"Why did they kill my brother? If he were alive, our dreams would have come true," told his brother Ramzan Ali yesterday.

"We used whatever little we earned to support his education," Ramjan continued, "we were hoping for days like this. But police killed him," he added.

Abu Sayed showed academic prowess throughout his academic life.

He had earned a talent pool scholarship in primary school, passed his SSC and HSC exams with GPA-5, and later got enrolled at the BRUR.

"Yet, the  past regime killed him just because he wanted a fair shot to get a respected job," his brother said in tears.

This year's teacher registration exam had 348,680 candidates, with 83,865 passing across various levels; candidates must succeed in the preliminary, written, and viva exams to qualify for teaching positions in non-government educational institutions in Bangladesh.