Initiative must be taken to restore normalcy in educational institutions
The country’s educational institutions are now unstable. From universities to colleges and schools, the situation is almost the same. In some places, students are protesting for various demands.
In other places, teachers and employees are taking to the streets with their demands. As a result, the process of developing future generations into good citizens is being hampered.
According to report published in this newspaper on Thursday, students have declared a “complete shutdown” at all engineering universities across the country for the day over their job-related demands and to protest the police action against students in front of Hotel InterContinental in the capital on Wednesday.
Their declaration came in the night after police charged truncheons and fired teargas shells to disperse protesting students marching towards the chief adviser’s residence to press home their demands. Around 50 students and eight police were reportedly injured in the violence.
As reported, engineering students from various universities, including Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka University, and BRAC University, blocked Shahbagh intersection in the capital on Tuesday, demanding three demands, including not allowing diploma engineers to write “engineer” before their names.
Again on Wednesday, after staying at Shahbagh intersection for an hour, they left for Jamuna, the residence of the chief advisor, at around 1:30 pm. When they reached Hotel Intercontinental, the police stopped them.
On the other hand, diploma engineering students blocked the highway in Gazipur to protest the harassment of diploma engineers and the unreasonable three-point demand of the Engineers’ Rights Movement.
They held the program at Chandana intersection on Tuesday afternoon. During the program, the students made seven demands to the government.
Meanwhile, the government formed an eight-member committee led by Energy Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan to examine the demands of both engineering graduates and diploma engineers, who have been demonstrating.
According to a Cabinet Division notification, the government committee will assess the justification of the demands raised by both engineering graduates and diploma engineers and submit recommendations within a month.
The country’s education system has almost come to a standstill. So, educational activities are being disrupted. Students are also being harmed. Thus, the country is being harmed.
This cannot and should not continue. Effective initiatives must be taken to restore normalcy in educational institutions as soon as possible.