Protesting students lock down Dhaka Polytechnic Institute to press demands

Students have enforced a "shutdown" of the Dhaka Polytechnic Institute by locking the campus gates as part of their ongoing movement to press home their charter of six demands.

Around 11:30am on Tuesday, the students put padlocks on several entrances of the campus.

The Karigori Chhhatra Andolon (Technical Students' Movement), the platform leading the protest, said that similar shutdown programmes are being observed at polytechnic institutes across the country, including in Chapainawabganj, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Lakshmipur, Rajshahi, and Chattogram.

After locking the gates at the Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, protest leader Mashfik Islam Dewan briefed students at the Medha Shaheed Chattar on campus.

"Although the Technical and Madrasa Education Division of the Ministry of Education formed a committee to develop a roadmap for implementing our demands, only one meeting has been held so far. We are seeing no real progress. We are receiving no information about how or when our demands will be met. The committee is not working with urgency," he said.

"In light of this, we are carrying out a coordinated shutdown across all polytechnic institutes in Bangladesh. Until a proper framework is adopted to implement our demands, all polytechnic institutes will remain shut. Administrative and academic buildings will remain locked, and all activities on campus will be suspended."

Earlier in the week, the protesters held rallies across the country and presented their demands at the district offices of the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB).

The students had initially suspended their movement on Apr 22 after the ministry formed a committee to work on their demands. However, they reversed course the very next day and announced the resumption of their protests.

The six demands made by the protesting students are:

1. Cancellation of the High Court verdict promoting craft instructors to junior instructor posts, along with a change in the title of craft instructor, permanent dismissal of all involved in the case, and immediate annulment of the 2021 recruitment rules. Protesters also demanded a fair investigation and action against those responsible.

2. Continuation of the four-year Diploma Engineering course, and the formulation of a modern, standardised syllabus and curriculum.

3. Exclusive eligibility for the post of Deputy Assistant Engineer and equivalent (10th grade) for students who have completed a four-year Diploma in Engineering or Monotechnology (Surveying). Private diploma graduates should receive a minimum basic salary of Tk 16,000.

4. Enforcement of the Technical Education Reform Committee's report outlining the appointment of technically educated personnel in positions such as directors, deputy directors, principals, and others within the technical sector.

5. Revision of all controversial recruitment rules under the Directorate of Technical Education and publication of recruitment notices to fill vacant posts with technically educated teachers and lab assistants in polytechnic institutes and Technical School and Colleges (TSCs).

6. Publication of a gazette to establish a university for higher education of Diploma in Engineering and Monotechnology graduates, and reservation of 100 percent of seats for them in the proposed four engineering colleges in Naogaon, Thakurgaon, Narail, and Khagrachhari.