Agitating students blocked roads in Chattogram city on Tuesday to press home their demand for resignation of Education Adviser CR Abrar and Education Secretary Siddiq Zobair.
The protest began around 1:30pm in front of the Chattogram Education Board in Muradpur, where students gathered and later took to the street, halting traffic in the area.
The protesters accused the adviser and the secretary of mishandling recent exam decisions amid the national trauma due to the Milestone plane crash in Uttara of Dhaka.
The protest began around 1:30pm in front of the Chattogram Education Board in Muradpur, where students gathered and later took to the street, completely halting traffic and causing severe congestion in the area.
Some students were seen lying down on the road as a form of protest, while others chanted slogans like “Fake, fake!” and “Why did my brother die? The administration must answer!”
They also called for the education adviser’s immediate resignation.
The demonstrators said they were outraged by the education ministry’s insensitive response and initial hesitation to postpone HSC exams following the recent deadly plane crash near Milestone School and College, which left the country’s students traumatised.
Md Raihan, an HSC candidate from Omar Gani MES College, said, “We found out at 3am that the exam had been postponed. It’s inhuman to even consider holding exams without thinking about the mental state of students after such a disaster.”
Russel Ahmed, a student of Hazera Taju Degree College, added, “Our protest will continue until both the education adviser and the secretary resign.”
When asked for comment, Elias Uddin Ahmed, chairman of the Chattogram Education Board, said, “The students have not formally submitted any demands to us. I sent a representative, but they refused to speak.”
Meanwhile, Senior Secretary Siddique Zobair has been withdrawn from his post amid student protests.