Exams of seven DU-affiliated colleges to continue

The authorities have rowed back on the decision to suspend the ongoing examination of the seven Dhaka University-affiliated colleges in the face of student protests.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting attended by the education minister, deputy education minister and other officials on Wednesday, said MA Khair, information and public relations officer at the education ministry.

ASM Maksud Kamal, chief coordinator of the seven government colleges and vice-chancellor (education) of Dhaka University, said, “The ongoing examinations of the seven colleges will continue. The new dates for the exams previously scheduled for February 23 and 24 will be announced later.”

It came after students of the seven colleges poured onto the Nilkhet intersection for a second to protest against the postponement of their ongoing examinations and demand the authorities reopen the halls of residence.

All educational institutions, including universities, in the country have been closed since March last year following the outbreak of coronavirus. The university began taking online classes but students facing accommodation problems began demanding that the residential halls be reopened.

On February 22, Education Minister Dipu Moni announced that classes in public and private universities would restart from May 24 after the teachers and students were vaccinated against the coronavirus.

However, no university would be allowed to take any exam before May 24. The online lessons would continue until that time while the residential halls would open on May 17, she said.

Following the announcement, the Dhaka University authorities abandoned the plan to reopen the halls of residence on Mar 13 to its honours and master’s students while suspending the ongoing examinations.

The decision led to protests by the disgruntled students who blocked the Nilkhet intersection Tuesday evening. They resumed the protests on Wednesday, bring traffic at both ends of the New Market-Azimpur road to a halt, reports bdnews24.com.

The seven Dhaka University affiliate colleges are Dhaka College, Eden College, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul College, Begum Badrunessa Govt Women's College, Mirpur Bangla College and Titumir College. These were affiliated with the university on February 16, 2017 in a bid to reduce the pressure on the national university and increase the quality of education.