The long-standing demand to evaluate answer scripts while keeping examinees’ identities confidential is going to be implemented at Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet).

To ensure transparency and impartiality, the university administration has decided to introduce a ‘Unique Coding’ method. The proposal was formally approved at the Academic Council meeting held on 2 May.

According to university sources, the method will initially be introduced on an experimental basis in three departments in the 2025-26 academic session. The departments are Chemical Engineering, Building Engineering and Construction Management (BECM), and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

If the pilot phase is successful, the system will later be expanded to all departments and academic years of the university. This change in Ruet’s academic management is being seen as a groundbreaking reform. Notably, the introduction of a coding system was among the 12-point demands raised by students following 5 August 2024.

The demand gained momentum following allegations of ‘bias’ in script evaluation after the death of a student from the Urban and Regional Planning department in January 2025. Later, demanding visible progress, students held a human chain in front of the university’s central library on 25 July. Md. Main Uddin, one of the main organizers of the 12-point movement and a former student, said that in the past there were allegations that students suffered academically due to teachers’ personal biases.

With the introduction of the coding method, impartiality will return to evaluations and students will be freed from discrimination. Mohiuddin Nahid, a student of the Chemical Engineering department, welcomed the decision and said,

“This is our long-standing demand. We want its effective implementation to be ensured quickly.”

Meanwhile, the university administration believes that this method will not only bring transparency to answer script evaluation but also ensure teachers’ accountability.

This initiative has been taken to transform Ruet into a discrimination-free higher education institution in line with the modern education system.