Academic activities in five major educational institutions in Dhaka remain suspended for the past week amid various incidents of clashes and counter clashes affecting nearly thirty-five thousand students. The absence of effective measures by the authorities concerned and unruly attitude of a section of students has added to uncertainty over when these institutions will return to normalcy.
The institutions are Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul Government College, which are among the seven institutions affiliated with Dhaka University, Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College (DMRC), Dhaka National Medical Institute Hospital and St Gregory High School and College.
On Sunday and Monday, students of these institutions engaged in separate clashes, halting academic activities.
The clashes also prompted the DU authorities to postpone final examinations of first- and fourth-year students of all seven affiliated colleges. The five other affiliated colleges are Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Mohila College, Government Titumir College, and Mirpur Government Bangla College.
Principals of the colleges expressed concerns over the disruption of academic activities due to infrastructural damage, calling for prompt and permanent solutions to resume normal operations.
Ashraf Chowdhury, managing director of DMRC, which will remain closed until Saturday, said they might not be able to start academic activities even next week considering the amount of damage done to the institution.
Prof Kakoli Mukhopadhyay, principal of Shaheed Suhrawardy College, said, "We've been trying to restart academic activities in our college, but we've been witnessing such chaos in many institutions. To address these challenges, we need a permanent solution, which can help us act promptly."
The college announced that its academic activities will remain halted until December 2, while Kabi Nazrul Government College remained shut until yesterday since the clash erupted on Monday (November 25). It has not given a date of reopening till the filing of this report at 9:00pm last night.
On November 24, students of DMRC went to Dhaka National Medical Institute Hospital to protest an alleged medical mistreatment of a fellow student.
At one point, they vandlised the hospital, compelling the institute authorities to postpone all MBBS and BDS classes from November 26 to 28.
As some students of Shaheed Suhrawardy College, located near the hospital, intervened, the DMRC students attacked and vandalised that college as well.
St Gregory High School and College also came under attack at that time, leading to suspension of all classes, and exams until yesterday. The authorities of the institution yesterday said they will begin classes on Saturday.
On November 25, in response to the attack, students of Suhrawardy College, with support from students of other DU-affiliated colleges like Kabi Nazrul Government College, severely vandalised the 11-storey DMRC building, leading to a series of clashes and chases.
In a separate incident, students of Bangladesh University of Textiles (Butex) and Dhaka Polytechnic Institute got locked in a clash on November 24 night, resulting in the suspension of nine exams of Butex.
Since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, the education sector has been in a state of instability. Several protests were held at different institutions across the country as students demanded the resignations of their respective teachers or principals. This too had resulted in disruptions to academic activities in those institutions.
In August and October, the government saw multiple student movements.
Samina Luthfa, a teacher of DU and member of the University Teachers Network, said that in the past, teachers aligned with the Awami League failed to stand by the students. "Instead, they aided the repression, which created a significant divide between these teachers and the students.
"As a result, the relationship between teachers and students has been severely damaged, making it increasingly difficult to maintain control over the students."
She said the recent clashes are deeply concerning, and they cannot be allowed to escalate further.
"When we know there are problems in these colleges, immediate security measures should be implemented. The authorities should also facilitate dialogue between teachers and students."
Samina emphasised that the government must take responsibility for these issues, as the education ministry holds significant accountability.
"The failure to control the situation indicates that the changes people hoped for in the uprising have not been implemented effectively."
Moreover, she said, if appointments in educational institutions are made based on political affiliations, no real solutions can be achieved.
"In such cases, teachers might exploit students for political purposes, which should never happen. To resolve these issues, both the government and teachers must take responsibility."
Contacted, Prof M Aminul Islam, special assistant to the education advisor, said, "The situation is contained now. We are taking the necessary steps to bring normalcy to the educational institutions. You'll see positive outcomes soon."
