Students from public and private polytechnic institutes across the country marched wearing white funeral shrouds tied to their heads, demanding fulfillment of six key demands and condemning a recent attack on students in Cumilla.
Following Friday’s Jumm'ah prayers, a symbolic “funeral shroud” procession began from the mosque courtyard of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute. The march proceeded through the roads near Tejgaon Adarsha School and College, eventually settling near the southern gate of the college.
This nationwide protest was announced late Thursday night at 11 PM by Bangladesh Technical Students' Movement. Just hours earlier, at around 7:30 PM, students had also held torch processions across Dhaka and other cities, accusing the Ministry of Education of betrayal through a “staged meeting” that failed to address their concerns. They also protested against the violent assault on protesting students in Cumilla.
For nearly a month and a half, polytechnic students have continued a series of protests demanding reforms in technical education. On Wednesday, April 16, students gathered at the Sat Rasta intersection in Tejgaon from 10 AM, launching a sit-in demonstration. In solidarity, students from districts across the country blocked both road and railway networks.
Following a full day of protest and sit-ins, students announced that they would begin a nationwide railway blockade on Thursday morning. However, after receiving an appeal from the government that night, they decided to temporarily suspend the blockade program.
The Students’ Six Demands:
1. Abolition of High Court verdict on promotion of Craft Instructors to Junior Instructor posts, a change of the Craft Instructor designation, and permanent dismissal of all individuals involved in the disputed promotion case.
2. Immediate cancellation of the 2021 controversial recruitment rules for Craft Instructors, annulment of those recruitments following a fair investigation, and action against the key instigators.
3. Maintain the four-year duration of the Diploma in Engineering course and update its syllabus and curriculum to align with modern global standards.
4. Restrict application to the Sub-Assistant Engineer (Grade 10) post to only those who have completed four-year Diploma in Engineering or Monotechnology (Surveying). Also, ensure that these posts are reserved and that graduates in this discipline in the private sector are given a minimum basic salary of 16,000 BDT.
5. Introduce reforms in the leadership of technical education, appointing only technically educated personnel to key positions such as Director, Deputy Director, and Principal within the technical education sector.
6. Revise all controversial recruitment rules under the Directorate of Technical Education and immediately publish recruitment circulars for competent teachers and lab assistants in all vacant posts in polytechnic and technical schools and colleges.
In addition to these demands, the students called for the gazetted approval of a new university modeled after global standards for higher education in technical fields for Diploma and Monotechnology graduates. They also demanded full seat allocation at the four proposed engineering colleges in Naogaon, Thakurgaon, Narail, and Khagrachhari.
