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Published : 17 May 2025, 07:51 PM
Students from Dhaka’s polytechnic institutes have called for a human chain and sit-in outside the High Court on Sunday, demanding the cancellation of a verdict delivered in a writ petition.
The platform leading the movement, Karigori Chhatra Andolon Bangladesh, has also announced plans for demonstrations and human chains at polytechnic institutes across the country on the same day.
The announcements were made at a press conference at Dhaka Polytechnic Institute on Saturday afternoon.
"Our protest is not over yet," said Zubair Patwary, central representative of the movement and a student of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute.
“Our first demand was about the craft instructors. We still haven’t seen any resolution to the issues they face.”
He added that although the education ministry has taken steps, no progress has been seen on the High Court verdict.
"The case was heard, and the verdict was suspended that day," said Zubair.
As the next hearing is scheduled for Sunday, he said: “We want a full settlement of this verdict. On that day, peaceful demonstrations and human chains will be held at every polytechnic institute while students from Dhaka polytechnics will gather outside the High Court.”
“We urge the government to accept our demands without delay,” he added.
Md Mashfik Islam Dewan, another representative of the platform and a student of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, said: “A draft of the implementation roadmap for our six-point demand has already been prepared.
"The government has begun initiatives to revise the designations of technical instructors, including craft and junior instructors," he added. "We remain hopeful that the framework will be implemented properly."
Polytechnic students, who have long been pushing for the fulfilment of their six-point charter of demands, took to the streets on Apr 16.
After staging demonstrations for about a week, the education ministry formed a committee to draft an implementation plan, prompting the students to suspend their movement.
The very next day, they reversed the decision and announced a continuation of their protests.
Although the students agreed on May 7 to relax their shutdown programme and resume classes, they declared a boycott of form fill-ups and exams.
The students’ demands include:
>> Cancellation of the High Court verdict on the promotion of craft instructors to junior instructor posts, along with a change of designation for craft instructors and permanent dismissal of all those involved in the related case.
>> Immediate annulment of the recruitment rules for the controversial 2021 appointment of craft instructors, cancellation of those appointments following a proper investigation, and disciplinary action against craft instructors linked to the legal proceedings.
>> Continuation of the four-year diploma engineering course, with a modern curriculum and syllabus aligned with international standards.
>> Restriction of applications for the post of sub-assistant engineer and equivalent (10th grade) only to those who have completed a four-year Diploma-in-Engineering or Monotechnology (Surveying) course, with preservation of this quota.
>> A minimum salary of Tk 16,000, equivalent to the basic pay of 10th grade, for diploma-holding engineers working in the private sector.
