Committee Convenes to Counter Career Conflict between BSc and Diploma Engineers

A high-level committee formed to resolve professional disputes between BSc engineering graduates and diploma engineers is set to meet on Wednesday, September 17, at the Ministry of Public Administration. The committee will evaluate the legitimacy of professional demands raised by both groups and formulate recommendations. The meeting is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., with senior figures from the engineering and technical sectors in attendance.

The session will be chaired by Muhammad Faozul Kabir Khan, Adviser to the Ministries of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Road Transport and Bridges, and Railways, and Chairman of the Committee. Other members include Mohammad Riazul Islam, President of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh; Md. Kabir Hossain, Convener of the Interim Central Convening Committee of the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB); and Professor Dr. Tanvir Manzur, Chairman of the Board of Accreditation for Engineering and Technical Education, Bangladesh.

Vice-Chancellors of BUET, RUET, CUET, KUET, BUTEX, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Islamic University of Technology, and DUET are expected to attend, along with the Deans of the Schools of Engineering from North South University and BRAC University.

Noted academicians, including Dr. Ainun Nishat, Emeritus Professor at BRAC University and former Professor of Water Resources Engineering at BUET; Dr. Shamim Z. Bosunia, former Professor of Civil Engineering at BUET; Professor Dr. Abdul Hasib Chowdhury, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of BUET; and Professor Dr. Shamsul Hoque of BUET’s Civil Engineering Department, will also be present. Principals of Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi Polytechnic Institutes will join as well.

Government representatives such as advisers from the Ministries of Industry, Housing and Public Works, Education, and Environment; Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Posts, Telecommunications and ICT; and Sheikh Moinuddin, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, are also slated to attend.

Other participants include Professor Syed Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the IDEB Education and Training Institute; Md. Kamruzzaman, ITC Director at the Bangladesh Technical Education Board; and Md. Mofizul Islam, President of the Bangladesh Polytechnic Teachers Association.

The committee’s member secretary, Kazi Muhammad Mozammel Haque, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, stated in a letter signed on September 15 that the meeting would deliberate on the professional claims of BSc degree holders and diploma engineers, involving relevant academic institutions and ministries.

Bangladesh has over 800,000 diploma engineers and 450,000 polytechnic students. The diploma community has long campaigned for recognition of their professional rights, while protesting what they call the “unjust three-point demand” raised by BSc engineering graduates. Students of polytechnic institutes expressed frustration over the delay in resolving the issue.

Describing the demands of BSc graduates as “a blueprint to destroy technical education, monopolize the engineering sector, and hold the state hostage,” members of the Technical Student Movement, Bangladesh announced that they would hold a press conference on Tuesday at Dhaka Polytechnic to press for the full implementation of their six-point demand.