7 colleges will no longer be affiliated with Dhaka University
No students of the colleges are to be admitted under DU from the 2024-25 session
Dhaka University (DU) will no longer have seven government colleges under its wing. This decision came on Monday (27 January) following a clash between students of DU and these institutions the previous night resulting in dozens of injuries.
This ends the affiliation which dates back to February 2017 when Dhaka University took back the responsibility of the seven government colleges after more than two decades.
DU Vice Chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan made the announcement of cancelling the tie after an emergency meeting with principals of the colleges at the VC's office on Monday.
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The seven colleges are Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Govt Girls' College, Govt Titumir College, Kabi Nazrul Govt College, Govt Shaheed Suhrawardy College, and Govt Bangla College.
Students of these institutions welcomed the decision, which was among their initial six demands. However, they issued a 24-hour ultimatum to implement their five other demands including an apology from DU authorities and resignation of DU pro-VC.
On Sunday night, at least 50 students were injured in a clash in the capital's Mirpur Road area.
The violence erupted after a group of students from the seven colleges went to meet DU Pro-VC Professor Mamun Ahmed to learn about the progress of their previous demands including cancelling the quota system during admissions into the seven colleges starting from 2024-25 session, not admitting students beyond the capacity of the classrooms.
They also had demanded admitting students according to the teacher-student ratio, introducing negative markings in admission tests and depositing the admissions fees into a separate account out of the purview of DU authority.
The situation heated up after the students protested against Prof Ahmed's alleged misconduct during the discussion.
The protest escalated into clashes between the college and DU students near DU's Mukti Toron, the entry point near Nilkhet Book Market, involving brickbats, fires, and a chase-counter chase.
Attempts by mediators failed, and the unrest continued into the night, with Eden Women's College students joining in solidarity with the college protesters.
No effect on enrolled students
According to the decision taken by the authorities, students of these seven colleges will not be admitted under DU from the 2024-25 session.
Existing students, however, will continue their studies under the DU administration.
Besides, Dhaka University authorities will ensure that the education of college students currently enrolled in the university's ongoing academic programmes is not adversely affected.
During the meeting, a recommendation was made to manage the activities of the academic years starting from 2024-2025 through a special committee formed by the education ministry on 29 December 2024.
The committee will decide on the number of seats, admission fees, and other relevant issues starting from the academic year 2024-25, as per the demands of the students.
It also said the DU administration will be responsible for ensuring that students currently enrolled in the university's academic programmes are not adversely affected in any way.
Meanwhile, the DU authorities on Monday suspended all exams at the university and the seven colleges. The schedule for the postponed exams will be announced later, according to an earlier press release issued by DU's Public Relations Office.
24hr ultimatum
At noon on Monday, the college students held a press conference, issued a four-hour ultimatum to the government, demanding immediate action on their demands and threatened to wage tougher measures if their demands are not met.
After the announcement to end affiliation, students of the seven colleges held a press briefing at around 7pm at the Dhaka College's Shaheed Minar premises.
"We had made six demands in the morning. DU has decided to cancel its affiliation with seven colleges. We welcome this. However, our other demands have not been met," Dhaka College student Moinul Islam told the media at the briefing.
Moinul said if their demands are not accepted, no vehicles, including DU buses, will ply in front of the seven colleges.
He added, "The OC of New Market Police Station and the AC of that zone have brutally beaten up one of our classmates. These police members must be withdrawn within the next 24 hours and departmental action must be taken. Otherwise, we students of seven colleges will besiege the police station. In addition, the DU Pro-VC must also resign.
Currently, the college students' remaining five demands are apology from DU authorities and resignation of DU pro-VC, dismissal of New Market policemen "for attack on protesting students", actions against DU students for "derogatory remarks" towards protesting female students, announcement of a separate university, meeting between chief adviser, other advisers, UGC, DU, seven college students to resolve situation, and reopening city corporation roads in DU to public.
