Polytechnic students from Dhaka staged a human chain and sit-in protest in front of the High Court on Sunday, demanding the reversal of a High Court verdict related to the promotion of craft instructors.
The protest, led by Karigori Chhatra Andolon Bangladesh, continued into the afternoon and was mirrored by similar demonstrations across the country.
Md Mashfik Islam Dewan, a student representative, stated that the Appellate Division has already suspended the contested verdict and is currently hearing the appeal.
“We are continuing our peaceful demonstrations until a final decision is reached,” he said, expressing hope that the Appellate Division would overturn the High Court ruling.
The protest is part of a larger movement that gained momentum on Apr 16, when students across the country took to the streets to push for a six-point charter of demands.
Although a committee was formed by the education ministry to implement a resolution, students resumed protests shortly after, calling for concrete action.
On May 7, students relaxed their campus shutdown but continued to boycott form fill-ups and exams.
Their key demands include: cancellation of the High Court verdict and removal of all individuals involved in the case, annulment of controversial 2021 recruitment rules for craft instructors, continuation and modernization of the four-year diploma engineering course, quota preservation for diploma holders in sub-assistant engineer posts, and a minimum private sector salary of Tk 16,000 for diploma engineers.
The protest underscores growing frustration among polytechnic students over unresolved policy issues affecting their education and career prospects.
