Dhaka Polytechnic students block roads at midnight

Students of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute protested by blocking roads in the capital’s Tejgaon Satrasta area demanding the implementation of 10th grade. Yesterday, Wednesday (January 28), hostel students staged a protest march and stopped traffic at around 11:30 pm. The protesters said that the agitation will be intensified if the recommendation to appoint BSC engineers as deputy assistant engineers is not withdrawn. They alleged that the long-standing demands of diploma engineers regarding promotion and grades have been ignored.
Earlier, the interim government formed a committee to resolve the ongoing agitation and conflict between BSC engineers and diploma engineers. The committee recommended the appointment of BSC engineers as deputy assistant engineers, which immediately created strong dissatisfaction among diploma students and engineers.
The students participating in the protest said that the recommendation to appoint BSC engineers in the posts reserved for diploma engineers is discriminatory. They demanded immediate cancellation of the committee’s recommendations and implementation of a fair 10th grade for diploma engineers. The students, who took to the streets under the banner of ‘Technical Students’ Movement’, said they have called for a boycott of examinations in polytechnic institutes from Thursday to achieve their demands.