Seven-college students to set up ‘Ordinance Stage’ at Sciencelab, announce mass gathering

Students of the seven colleges affiliated with Dhaka University have announced a fresh program to press home their single-point demand for the immediate issuance of a final ordinance establishing the proposed "Dhaka Central University."

As part of the movement, students will converge at the capital’s Sciencelab intersection on Monday (January 19) to establish an "Ordinance Stage" (Adhyadesh Mancha) and hold a mass gathering.

The announcement was made via a press release issued late Saturday (January 16) night by Md. Naim Hawlader, a representative of the movement and a student of the Statistics Department at Dhaka College.

According to the statement, a draft of the "Dhaka Central University Act-2025" was published on the website of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education on September 24 last year. Following its publication, the Ministry held several consultative meetings with stakeholders to address the debates and various opinions surrounding the draft.

“The draft was updated based on the feedback received during those meetings. Most recently, during a continuous sit-in program in front of Shikkha Bhaban on December 7 and 8, a meeting was held between the ministry and student representatives. In that meeting, we were assured that all necessary formalities would be completed by December, and an ordinance would be issued in early January,” the press release stated.

The student leaders emphasized that the "Ordinance Stage" will serve as a platform to demand the immediate issuance of the final ordinance by the President. Further protest programs are expected to be announced from the Sciencelab gathering on Monday starting at 11:00 AM.

Previously, on January 14 and 15, students observed half-day blockades at Sciencelab, Technical, and Tantibazar intersections, which resulted in severe traffic congestion and public suffering across the capital.