Trainee medical assistants block Shahbagh, demand upgrading to medical institute

Highlights 

• MATS students blocked Shahbagh pressing four demands 
• Protester's demands include filling vacant 10th-grade government positions, curriculum reforms, renaming their institution 
• The central coordinator said they gave authorities one hour to address their demands but received no response

Medical Assistant Training School (MATS) students staged a protest today (22 January) in the capital, blocking the Shahbagh intersection after initially demonstrating at Karwan Bazar at 10.40am. 

As of filing this report at 1:30pm they were still on the road pressing forth their four-point demand.

The students called for the immediate filling of vacant positions at the 10th-grade level in government jobs, paving paths for new jobs in both public and private sectors, an overhaul of the course curriculum, renaming their institution to a medical institute, and the establishment of an independent Medical Education Board of Bangladesh. 

They also demand the cancellation of the proposed Allied Health Professional Board.

Regarding the traffic congestion, Shahbagh police station's Officer-in-Charge, Mohammad Khalid Mansur, said efforts were underway to persuade the protesters to clear the road, but they remained firm in their stance.

The Central Coordinator of the General MATS Students' Unity Council, Ahmadullah Mansur, said, "We gave the government and the concerned authorities one hour to address our demands. They neither accepted them nor contacted us within the given time. That's why we have taken position at the Shahbagh intersection. If our demands are not met, the blockade will continue."

"The recruitment process for MATTS graduates has been stalled for a long time. As a result, many who completed their studies are unable to secure jobs," he added.