On Sunday, April 20, polytechnic students across Bangladesh are set to hold a grand rally at their respective institutes under the banner of the Technical Students’ Movement. The announcement came from Jubayer Patowary, a student of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, following a human chain program titled “Rise in Red” held on Saturday. During the event, participating students hung red cloths at the main gate of the institute in symbolic protest.

Just a day earlier, on Friday, students marched with white shrouds tied to their heads, demanding the fulfillment of six major demands they’ve been voicing for over a month through continuous programs.

The students’ six-point charter includes:

• Cancellation of the 30% promotion quota for craft instructors to junior instructor posts and nullifying their promotions as declared illegal by the High Court; dismissal of those involved in the controversial promotions and termination of the 2021 night-time recruitment of craft instructors along with a revision of the recruitment policy.

• Prohibition of open-age enrollment in diploma engineering courses; implementation of a four-year, quality curriculum aligned with international standards with academic activities gradually transitioning to English.

• Legal action against government, autonomous, and semi-autonomous institutions that appoint diploma engineers to positions below Sub-Assistant Engineer (10th grade), despite existing reservations.

• Ban on appointing non-technical personnel in key roles like directors, assistant directors, board chairpersons, deputy secretaries, and principals in the technical education sector; ensuring qualified technical professionals are recruited into these posts, alongside hiring competent teachers and lab assistants for vacant positions.

• Establishment of a separate Ministry for Technical and Higher Education and formation of a Technical Education Reform Commission.

• Creation of a high-standard Technical University to ensure higher education opportunities for graduates of polytechnic and monotechnic institutes. Additionally, the four under-construction engineering colleges (in Narail, Natore, Khagrachhari, and Thakurgaon) must provide full admission opportunities to such students under the academic supervision of DUET, starting from the upcoming session.