Students from Medical Assistant Training Schools (MATS) lifted their blockade at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka around 6 PM on Wednesday, allowing traffic to resume after hours of disruption. The protest, which began at 12:30 PM, caused significant traffic congestion in and around the area, creating inconvenience for city residents.

The students staged the blockade to press for their four-point demands, including immediate recruitment to vacant 10th-grade positions, job creation, and reforms in course curricula. In the afternoon, a six-member delegation of students met with officials at the Secretariat for discussions. Following the meeting, Mujahidul Islam, coordinator of the General MATS Students Unity Council, announced the suspension of the day’s program, stating that authorities had requested seven days to address their demands. He warned that failure to meet their demands within this timeframe would lead to a long march to Dhaka involving students from across the country.

MATS offers a four-year diploma course aimed at providing rural communities with healthcare and family planning services. Students claim they have been subjected to prolonged discrimination and have been protesting under the banner of the General MATS Students Unity Council for over three months without receiving any concrete assurances. Their demands include immediate recruitment to vacant positions, the creation of new posts in public and private sectors, renaming institutions as Medical Institutes, abolishing the proposed Allied Health Professional Board in favor of an independent Medical Education Board, and opportunities for higher education in clinical fields aligned with international standards and BMDC recognition.