Teachers adamant about removal of vice-chancellor
The students the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, after a long and unexpected closure of 65 days, thronged the campus in the morning to attend classes, undergo tests and work in laboratories on Saturday. Academic activities in BUET have been disrupted since April 7 as the teachers and students have been rallying for the removal of the vice-chancellor, SM Nazrul Islam, and the pro-vice-chancellor, Habibur Rahman. The latter was removed September 9, in response to protests, on the grounds of being involved in irregularities in university administration. But the vice-chancellor, who has been tarred with the same brush, is still in office.
The government took the above-mentioned step after the education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, gave BUET’s teachers and students such an assurance at separate meetings on 3 and 5 September respectively.
Nahid also assured the teachers and the students that the decision to remove the VC would be taken later.
On 10 September, the BUET’s authorities said that classes would resume on 15 September and the protesting teachers agreed to return to the classrooms.
BUET’s campus regained its vibrancy as the undergraduate and post-graduate students of engineering, architecture, urban planning and other departments shuttled between buildings to attend their classes and work in the labs after classes resumed at around 8:00am.
Students of the BUET, which is the country’s premier engineering university and has 8,000 pupils, seemed optimistic that all their demands would be fulfilled.
Fatema Noor, a student of computer science, said she was relieved after joining classes. ‘I was bored and eagerly waiting to return to the campus. I was happy to meet my friends.’
According to the new academic calendar prepared by the deans’ committee, classes will continue till 19 October after which there will be a 14-day vacation because of Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha.
The semester’s final examinations will begin on 17 November, after two weeks of leave for preparation from November 3 to 16.
The BUET Teachers’ Association’s general secretary, Ashraful Islam, told New Age that the teachers took classes and resumed other academic activities on Saturday.
He said that after the removal of Habibur Rahman and the withdrawal of the cases against the teachers and the students, the teachers had expected the government to also change the BUET’s administration without any delay.
Ashraf said that the teachers were adamant in their demand for the removal of the vice-chancellor.
When asked about admission tests for the 2012-13 session, the vice-chancellor said, ‘The Academic Council’s meeting will be held this week and we will set the date for admission tests without delay.’
The BUET stalemate began on April 7 when the teachers’ sit-ins and boycott of classes began after making 16 allegations of irregularities committed by the vice-chancellor and the pro-vice-chancellor. Students and university officials joined the agitation in mid-July.
The protesters began rallying on July 11, demanding removal of the vice-chancellor and the pro-vice-chancellor, after the vice-chancellor closed BUET on the night of July 10 till August 25.
The vice-chancellor’s decision to shut down BUET drew immediate protest with all the five deans and the heads of 17 departments and directors of three institutes submitting their resignation letters on July 11.
The academic activities in BUET have remained suspended since its reopening on August 25 due to agitation by the teachers and students.
On July 31, the High Court imposed an injunction on the movement of the teachers and ordered BUET’s authorities to start the admission process of first-year students.
Courtesy of New Age
