TOB Report – A group of polytechnic students blocked roads in Dhaka’s Tejgaon Saat Rasta area on Wednesday morning, bringing traffic to a standstill as they protested to press home a six-point demand.
The demonstration began shortly after 10am, with the students occupying the key intersection. By 10:30am, vehicular movement in the area had come to a complete halt, according to Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Gazi Shamimur Rahman, who stated that around 1,000 students were involved in the protest.
The demonstrators included students from government and private polytechnic institutes, Technical School and Colleges (TSCs), and other institutions under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board.
Among their demands, the students called for the cancellation of the 30% promotion quota for craft instructors in the appointment of junior instructors.
They also urged the annulment of a High Court verdict that allegedly permits illegal promotions, a revision of job titles, dismissal of those involved in the related court cases, and a complete cancellation of the controversial nighttime recruitment of craft instructors in 2021. Additionally, they demanded an immediate reform of the recruitment policy.
They also advocated for an end to open-age admission in the Diploma in Engineering course. Instead, they proposed the introduction of a four-year standard curriculum modeled after developed countries, along with a gradual shift to English as the medium of instruction.
Another major demand was the enforcement of reserved quotas for diploma engineers. The students insisted on legal action against public, autonomous, and semi-autonomous institutions that continue to appoint diploma engineers to lower-grade positions despite existing quota provisions for sub-assistant engineer-level roles.
The protesters also sought to ban the appointment of non-technical personnel in key administrative roles related to the technical education sector—such as directors, assistant directors, board chairpersons, deputy secretaries, exam controllers, and principals.
They urged that only individuals with a technical education background be recruited for these posts. Furthermore, they demanded that all vacant positions for qualified teachers and lab assistants be filled without delay through proper job announcements.
In their fifth demand, the students called for the creation of a separate “Ministry of Technical and Higher Education” as well as the formation of a “Technical Education Reform Commission” to address long-standing issues in the sector.
Finally, they emphasized the need to establish a high-quality technical university to enable polytechnic and monotechnic graduates to pursue higher education.
They also urged the authorities to ensure full admission opportunities for diploma holders at the four under-construction engineering colleges in Narail, Natore, Khagrachari, and Thakurgaon, by launching temporary campuses and academic programs under the supervision of DUET from the upcoming session.