Students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), along with peers from other engineering universities, blocked the Shahbagh intersection on Tuesday afternoon to press home their three-point demand.
At around 3:30pm, the students brought out a procession and occupied the intersection, halting traffic movement in the area.
The protesters said the blockade was part of their program titled “Blockade of Engineers.”
Their key demands are:
Recruitment to the 9th grade engineering posts (assistant engineer or equivalent) must require a competitive examination and a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree in engineering (BSc). No promotion should be allowed through quotas, nor should equivalent posts be created under different titles to bypass this requirement.
Recruitment tests for 10th grade technical posts (sub-assistant engineer or equivalent) should be open to both diploma holders and BSc engineering graduates.
Legal action should be taken against individuals using the title “engineer” without holding a BSc engineering degree. Non-accredited BSc engineering programs must also be brought under accreditation of IEB-BAETE following due process.
Earlier, under the banner of Engineers’ Rights Movement, students had announced a boycott of classes and exams to protest the recruitment of diploma holders into the 9th grade, which they claimed undermined university graduates. General students of BUET and other engineering universities have since joined the movement.
