Students of the seven colleges have issued an ultimatum to march towards the Ministry of Education if the proposed ordinance of Dhaka Central University is not issued within one week.
The ultimatum was declared on Thursday, at 12pm in a press conference held at the base of the Shaheed Minar of Dhaka College. A joint written statement was read out by Abdur Rahman, a student of Dhaka College, and Smriti Akter, a student of Eden College.
In the written statement, they said: “We demand the issuance of the ordinance of the proposed Dhaka Central University and its final approval along with the Advisory Council by Wednesday. If the ordinance is not issued within the stipulated time, students will march towards the Ministry of Education on September 25.”
They stated that various conspiracies were going on regarding the proposed university. They added that once again, a group opposing the establishment of the university was provoking students on campuses. In the name of preserving tradition, they were using some students at the last moment to obstruct the work of the government.
The students of the seven colleges said that some teachers had also united and joined the movement. On Wednesday, these teachers took students by bus to the University Grants Commission (UGC), abandoning classes and examinations in the colleges. They claimed that they had heard that some teachers, beneficiaries of the fallen Awami League government whose activities were banned, were leading the program.
Expressing anger towards the officials of the education cadre, they said: “On the banners we saw some demands from the teachers. From those, we realized that the dream of breaking the education syndicate and building an independent, autonomous institution would be obstructed. There is an attempt to trap us again in a new cycle of affiliation. If not that, then there is a conspiracy to send us back to the old system under the National University.”
For a long time, students have been demanding an independent university with the seven government colleges of the capital. However, this time the teachers of the seven colleges have started a movement opposing the structure of this university.
In response, the students of the seven colleges boycotted classes and examinations, held protests, and organized a press conference opposing the teachers’ movement while demanding the issuance of the ordinance.
