Students, teachers, officers and staff of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) have decided to return to the classroom after a 34-day standstill. They have warned of a tough movement if the vice-chancellor tries to enter the campus.
They say they want to go back to class to avoid further damage to their education, and have urged teachers to take effective steps to make that happen. They did not say exactly when classes will resume. Meanwhile, a high-level advisory committee formed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) will visit CUET on Wednesday to exchange views with those involved. Its members will hold separate discussions that day with students, teachers, officers and staff.
The students announced the decision in an open letter to teachers on Sunday. Teachers, officers and staff took the same decision at a general meeting the same day. On Sunday afternoon, the UGC’s inspection and monitoring branch also wrote to the CUET registrar, saying the committee members would visit on Wednesday to help end the standstill and restart classroom teaching. They will attend four separate meetings between 10am and 4pm.
In the open letter, the students said the long suspension of classes and exams was harming their education and adding to uncertainty about their future. They said they did not want the damage to grow and wanted academic activities to return to normal quickly. They will, however, keep up their movement for the reinstatement of the former vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem. The decision to return to class should not be seen as a retreat from the movement, the letter said. The students said teachers, officers, staff and students were united in a joint movement for a single demand, and that it would continue until the demand was met.
The students also said they would return to a tough movement if the newly appointed vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam, entered the campus. They said they would stay united to win their just demand.
Masum Billah, a fourth-year student in the mechanical engineering department, said: “Because classes and exams have been shut for so long, our education and our future face uncertainty. We want normal academic activities to return quickly. But going back to class does not mean stepping back from our just demand.”
The CUET Teachers’ Association held a general meeting the same day in the university’s central auditorium. Its joint secretary, Samiun Basir, said the meeting decided to call on students to return to class. “Our general meeting decided to call on students to return to class. The students have also told us they want to come back to class. The other decisions will be announced in a statement,” Basir said. The departments concerned will set the date classes start, Basir added.
On 21 September the education ministry removed CUET vice-chancellor Professor Dr Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem and appointed Professor Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) in Sayem’s place. Students began a full shutdown on 22 September in protest. Teachers, officers and staff have been observing a work stoppage and non-cooperation programme over the same demand. As a result, regular classes, exams and most academic activities at the university have been suspended.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report