Four Colleges and 21 Buildings Renamed, Dropping Sheikh Mujib Family Names
The names of four government colleges and 21 buildings across various educational institutions in Bangladesh have been changed, removing references to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Kamal, and other Awami League leaders, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Education’s Secondary and Higher Education Division on Monday, 28 July.
The notification states that the renaming aligns with a Cabinet Division directive dated 9 February 2025 and recommendations from the Ministry’s implementation monitoring section, aiming to adopt neutral or geographically based names to eliminate political and familial connotations.
The renamed colleges include:
- Shahid Abdur Rab Serniabat Government Teachers’ Training College, Barishal, now Barishal Government Teachers’ Training College.
- Government Joybangla College, Khulna, now Khulna Government College.
- Jillur Rahman Government Women’s College, Bhairab, now Bhairab Government Women’s College.
- President Abdul Hamid Government College, Itna, now Itna Government College.
Among the 21 renamed structures, student hostels, academic buildings, and women’s dormitories have been stripped of names like Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Russel, Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, and Dr. Wazed Miah. Notable changes include:
- Barguna Government Women’s College’s Sheikh Hasina Hostel, now Barguna Government Women’s College Hostel.
- Dhaka College’s Sheikh Kamal Hall, now Bijoy 24, and Sheikh Jamal Academic Building, now July 36 Academic Building.
- Shariatpur Government College’s Sheikh Russel Hostel, now Shahid Mamun Hostel.
- Titumir College’s Dr. Wazed Miah Science Building, now New Science Building.
- Rajbari Government College’s Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hostel, now Tapasi Rabeya Hostel.
- Dinajpur Government College’s Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hostel, now Hostel-3.
Similar renaming has occurred in government colleges in Narsingdi, Chandpur, Brahmanbaria, Lakshmipur, Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Jashore, Pabna, and Sandwip, replacing politically affiliated names with neutral or local identifiers.
The Ministry of Education emphasized that these changes reflect a move toward neutrality in institutional naming, following the interim government’s broader initiative to rename 808 structures previously linked to the Sheikh family, with 169 more under review.
