DUET Demonstrates against BUET’s Dominance in Recruitment Exams

Students of Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET) staged a midnight rally and assembly protesting against what they termed BUET’s “unilateral dominance” in conducting recruitment examinations. They demanded a neutral management system for all recruitment tests in the engineering sector.

From the assembly, the students placed four demands. These include: BUET cannot exclusively conduct the recruitment test for Assistant Engineer positions under the 9th grade; examinations must be held through an independent institution similar to the Public Service Commission (PSC); exam questions should be set collectively by teachers from all engineering universities, with 80 percent of the questions prepared from the respective departments; and viva boards must not contain any information about universities nor ask questions related to specific universities.

The protest march began at midnight on Wednesday, August 27, from the DUET campus, in condemnation of what students described as the government’s “silent role” in solving the ongoing crisis in the engineering sector and “quorum-based conspiracies.” The rally paraded through several city roads before concluding at Shibbari.

During a brief discussion meeting prior to the march, students said, “There is a third force instigating this situation to pit BSc engineers against diploma engineers. They must be identified and brought under the law without delay.”

At the rally, students also condemned the attack on BUET students during the ‘Long March to Jamuna’ program, urging the government to consider the legitimacy of both sides’ demands and take immediate steps for a permanent solution.

After the assembly, protesters returned to their campus in another procession.

Meanwhile, beginning Thursday, August 28, a program titled “Complete Shutdown of Engineers” will be observed across all engineering universities in the country. Organizers, including Jubair Ahmed, announced that no classes or examinations will be held during this period.