Students of 7 colleges stage sit-in before Shikkha Bhaban

Students from the capital’s seven government colleges are staging a sit-in in front of the Shikkha Bhaban, demanding the swift finalisation and ordinance issuance of the Dhaka Central University Act 2025.

On Monday, October 13, students from various institutions under the seven colleges brought out processions and gathered in front of the Education Building. Vehicular movement towards the Secretariat came to a halt as police set up barricades to prevent students from advancing further.

At around 11am, over a hundred students from Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul Government College gathered at the site, later joined by students from Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College, Mirpur Bangla College, and Government Titumir College.

Due to the demonstration, traffic from the Education Building to the Secretariat was completely halted. Police installed barricades on the adjacent roads to restrict students from moving towards the Secretariat.

Students said that although the government had earlier announced the formation of a central university combining the seven colleges, no ordinance has yet been issued. They demanded that the ordinance for the Dhaka Central University Act 2025 be issued today, warning that failure to do so would lead to tougher programmes.

Zisan, a fourth-year student of Political Science at Shaheed Suhrawardy College, said, “The government declared that the seven colleges would be brought under a new central university, but the law has not been enacted yet. We want the ordinance today. If there is any delay, we will announce a stronger movement.”

Earlier, on March 26, the government announced the formation of a new university by separating the seven government colleges in Dhaka. The University Grants Commission (UGC) proposed the name Dhaka Central University for the new institution.

The colleges include Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Mirpur Bangla College, and Government Titumir College.

Notably, students of these seven colleges have long been demanding the cancellation of their affiliation with Dhaka University and the establishment of a separate central university.