Students of five government colleges on Sunday staged a demonstration, blocking the Shahbagh intersection to demand cancellation of the proposed schooling model of Dhaka Central University.
They marched from the Science Lab intersection and took position at Shahbagh around 11am on Sunday.
Initially, higher secondary students of Dhaka College gathered at Science Lab. They were later joined by students from Mirpur’s Government Bangla College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Government Shaheed Suhrawardy Government College, and Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls’ College.
When the students marched together to Shahbagh and took position on the intersection, traffic on the key road came to a halt, causing suffering for thousands of commuters.
The protesters alleged that if the seven government colleges affiliated with Dhaka University are turned into Dhaka Central University and the schooling model is implemented, higher secondary students of the five colleges will cease to exist. They said this is why they took to the streets to protest the matter in advance.
The agitating students warned that the movement would continue until the proposed system is scrapped.
On 12 November, the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Education announced a policy decision to merge the seven government colleges and establish a new public university named Dhaka Central University.
