Students protest, demand re-opening of their institutions

Students rallied and formed human chains in parts of the country on Monday in demand of reopening educational institutions, which were closed due to the pandemic.

The government shut down educational institutions on March 17 last year for the safety of the students as coronavirus struck the country.

On Monday many students took to the streets as the government has announced another week of lockdown while easing much of the curbs on public transportation and movement.

A human chain protest under the banner of "General Students" was held in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Monday.

The protesters said they are getting increasingly frustrated and worried about session jams as schools, colleges and universities remained shut for more than 14 months.

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Similar protests were organized in different places of the country including Jahangirnagar University, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet Shahid Minar, Thakurgaon town, Rajshahi, Bogura town, Tangail Shaheed Minar and Haji Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University in Dinajpur.

The protestors said that the decision to keep everything except the educational institution open does not make any sense and urged the policymakers to consider students' future.

They were also almost unanimously against online exams and classes as they stated that the benefits of online education failed to reach most of the students due to the digital divide.

The students also said that many of them are going through clinical depression because of the status quo by pointing out how the suicide rate has increased among students of public universities during the pandemic.

They said that they are willing to return to residential halls of their respective universities following vaccination and urged the concerned authorities to make a decision accordingly.

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The students warned of more protests to press for their demand.

On the other hand, authorities hope to reach a decision by this week on the reopening of all educational institutes in the country after assessing the Covid situation, officials say.

It was earlier announced that the educational institutions would remain closed till May 29.

“The government has extended the ongoing lockdown till May 30. We will announce a new date for the reopening of schools, colleges, and universities by Thursday,” Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain told Dhaka Tribune on Sunday.