The students of various colleges have started a movement to demand that the Higher Secondary (HSC) and equivalent examinations (in full syllabus) to be held from August 17 should be postponed by 2 months.
As part of this movement of 4-point demands, first wearing the uniforms of various colleges, they blocked the Shahbagh road, one of the busiest intersections in Dhaka, and formed a human chain. Then they marched towards Science lab from Shahbagh, later advanced forward and blockaded Nilkhet intersection.
They wanted to leave from Nilkhet More to surround the office of the Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Dhaka, located at Bakshibazar, but they were blocked by the police. Failing to proceed in that direction, they marched towards Science Lab from Nilkhet and blocked Science Lab intersection at 2:30 PM.
Considering public interest, the students from Science Lab announced a suspension of their agitation and marched towards Shahbagh via New Elephant Road. Quoting the agitators, our correspondent said that they were supposed to end their agitation by going to Shahbagh.
The protestors claimed that tomorrow (August 8) Education Minister Dipu Moni will held a press conference at the Ministry of Education. If announcement of meeting their demands are made from the event, they would call off their agitation permanently.
However, claiming their voice did not reach to the ministry, they would continue taking to the streets at Shahbagh intersection.
Their 4-point demands are, Higher Secondary and equivalent exams starting from August 17 should be cancelled, exams cannot be conducted during the dengue outbreak and then these exams should be postponed for at least 2 months, the marks distribution of each subject should be 50 instead of 100 and ICT subject exam must be cancelled.
A student is heard telling the police that they will not leave the road until they get assurances that their demands will be met. They are heard screaming slogans, “We don`t accept exams on August 17th, we don`t accept exams of 100 marks."
Screenshot taken from live video broadcast on TheReport.live
Our correspondent on duty said that despite several attempts by law enforcement forces to reassure them, they continued to stay on the streets as per their demands.
Initially, no statement of any member of the law enforcement force was available. Heavy traffic congestion was observed on the Shahbagh-Science Lab-Nilkhet roads during the rain.
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