DHAKA — A group of students under the banner "Karigori Chhatra Andolon" staged a protest on Monday by blocking 'Satrasta Mor' in Dhaka's Tejgaon, leading to severe traffic jams and inconvenience for commuters, local media reported.
The protest, which began around 11:30 a.m., saw hundreds of students gathering at the intersection, reported country's leading newspaper The Daily Star citing traffic officials,
The blockade caused major traffic disruptions, with the road from Farmgate to Shahbagh via Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue nearly at a standstill from midday until 2:00 p.m.
Severe congestion also extended to other parts of the city, including Eskaton, Moghbazar, and Hatirjheel, with traffic even backing up on the off-ramps of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway at Farmgate and Hatirjheel.
The "Karigori Chhatra Andolon" represents students from the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, including those from public and private polytechnic institutes, as well as technical schools and colleges.
They blocked the road to press a six-point list of demands which includes implementing a four-year duration for diploma engineering courses, with each semester lasting six months.
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They also called for a full allocation of seats for diploma engineering students in the four proposed engineering colleges to increase higher education opportunities.
Additionally, the group demanded the immediate transfer of all craft instructors who were "controversially appointed" in 2021 from the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) and its affiliated institutions.
The student body also called for reforms in the Technical Education Board and insisted that only individuals with technical education backgrounds be employed in administering the technical education sector.
Other demands included reserving the 10th-grade sub-assistant engineer posts exclusively for diploma engineers, amending the "controversial" recruitment rules of the DTE, and addressing the teacher shortage by recruiting technical personnel for vacant positions.