Blockade Lifted at Sylhet Engineering College

The protest at Sylhet Engineering College has brought engineering education, degree standards and the institution’s academic structure into focus. Students began the movement demanding that the college be freed from the Directorate of Technical Education and brought under Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). After nearly 33 hours, 22 people, including 14 teachers and officials, were allowed to leave the administrative building. However, the students’ protest and demonstrations are continuing.

At around 9:30pm on Monday (September 28), the 22 teachers, officials and staff members left the administrative building. Earlier, at around 5pm, Sylhet City Corporation Administrator Abdul Qayum Chowdhury visited the college to speak with the protesting students. He spoke with them and assured them that their demands would be raised with the relevant authorities. The teachers and officials were then allowed to leave the building.

Mohammad Asaduzzaman, acting principal of the college, said the teachers and officials were able to leave the administrative building around 9:30pm. However, normal conditions have not yet returned to the campus because of the students’ protest.

According to college sources, the students began their movement around 1pm on Sunday. They demanded that Sylhet Engineering College be released from the Directorate of Technical Education and placed under SUST. At one stage, they locked the gate of the administrative building, leaving teachers and officials trapped inside.

The protesting students said the quality of the college’s BSc Engineering degree is being affected because the institution remains under the Directorate of Technical Education. They said they have been demanding a change to the existing arrangement for a long time, but no decision has been made.

The students said the college must be brought under SUST to protect the status of its BSc Engineering degree and maintain the quality of engineering education. They said freeing the college from the Directorate of Technical Education has been a longstanding demand.

The students also said all academic and administrative activities, including classes, examinations and laboratory work, will remain suspended until the Education Ministry issues a formal notification on the matter. They announced that the protest will continue until a decision is made to implement their demand.

//DBTech/BNBC/EMS MNP//