Technical Students Submit Memorandum Seeking Equity in Engineering Education
Technical Student Movement Bangladesh has submitted a memorandum to the Chief Adviser of the interim government, demanding protection of the rights of technical students, removal of ongoing discrimination in the engineering sector, and strengthening of the country’s technical education system in the national interest.
The memorandum was submitted at the Office of the Chief Adviser on Saturday, January 31.
Signed by Mohammad Masfik Islam, President and Executive Member of Technical Student Movement Bangladesh, the memorandum states that despite the crucial role of technical education in the country’s industrialisation and technological advancement, the sector has long suffered from neglect, discrimination, and what it describes as planned conspiracies. It alleges that a vested group is attempting to create divisions by ignoring the legitimate rights of diploma engineers and technical students. According to the memorandum, unemployment is being exploited to spread misinformation, conduct financial dealings, and exert undue influence to deprive one group of its rightful entitlements.
The organisation claims that such actions are creating instability within the engineering sector and eroding public trust in the education and administrative systems.
The memorandum further alleges that the inter-ministerial committee formed to resolve long-standing professional disputes between diploma and BSc engineers is not acting impartially. Instead of addressing the core problems, the committee—described as being formed in a one-sided manner—is allegedly deepening the crisis. The student leaders also demanded the cancellation of the committee and called for an end to what they described as conspiratorial activities aimed at pitting BSc and diploma engineering students against each other in the context of the upcoming 13th national election.
Leaders of the Technical Student Movement said that no country can achieve sustainable development by neglecting technical education. They stressed that giving the highest priority to technical education is essential if Bangladesh is to rapidly reach the ranks of developed nations. In this context, they appealed for justice and statesmanlike intervention from the Chief Adviser.
The memorandum outlines a 10-point demand charter. Key demands include ensuring at least 33 percent seats for diploma engineers in all engineering universities through a credit transfer system; reinstating the opportunity for diploma engineers with three years of experience to apply for ninth-grade positions; guaranteeing application rights for diploma engineers to tenth-grade posts in various government agencies; and imposing restrictions on engineers’ entry into the general cadre.
Additional demands include ensuring parity between diploma and degree engineers in the use of professional titles, providing access to higher education based on credit hours, ending what they termed the unilateral authority of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) and the Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB), determining fair equivalence in curricula, and accepting the declared and justified demands of the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB).
DBTech/DP/EK/OR
