Students stage sit-in at Education Ministry over Central University ordinance demand

Students from seven government colleges in the capital have begun a sit-in in front of the Education Ministry demanding immediate issuance of the Central University ordinance.

Around 11:00am on Monday, students from Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul Government College arrived in a procession and started the sit-in. Later, students from other colleges joined them.

The students said they are observing a peaceful march and sit-in as per the pre-scheduled programme. They vowed to continue until their demand is met.

A student from Kabi Nazrul Government College said, “The Central University ordinance must be issued immediately. We won't go home without it.” The protesters chanted slogans like “Stop the delay, issue the ordinance”, “No more stalling on ordinance”, “Our blood is boiling”, “No business with education”, and “We want the ordinance”.

Meanwhile, law enforcers have taken a strict stance around the Education Ministry. A large contingent of police has been deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

For context, the government announced on March 26 this year to form a new university by detaching the seven government colleges from Dhaka University. The University Grants Commission (UGC) proposed the name ‘Dhaka Central University’. The colleges are Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Mirpur Bangla College, and Government Titumir College.