No Progress in merging 7 colleges into a university, Warning of protest again

Students from the seven colleges in Dhaka have announced plans to take to the streets with their five-point demands. The colleges were promised to be merged into a university, but students say there has been no progress beyond the name proposal. They warned of protests starting on May 19 unless their demands, including the appointment of an interim administration for the new university, are met.

Students from the seven colleges in Dhaka have announced plans to take to the streets with their five-point demands. The colleges were promised to be merged into a university, but students say there has been no progress beyond the name proposal. They warned of protests starting on May 19 unless their demands, including the appointment of an interim administration for the new university, are met.

The announcement was made during a press conference held at Eden Women’s College on Saturday, May 17.

The five demands presented by the students are:

1. Issuance of a notification for the appointment of an interim administration by Sunday, May 18.

2. Creation of an academic calendar and resolution of session delays after the interim administration is appointed.

3. Immediate action to resolve issues like ghost results, extra fee collection, and other irregularities.

4. Organization of entrance exams for sessions 24-25 within two working days after the appointment of the interim administration.

5. Publication of the new university's logo and outline within five working days, followed by the issuance of the university ordinance by June 16, and allocation of a budget for the new university for the fiscal year 2025-26.

The students have stated that if the notification for the interim administration is not issued by Sunday, they will begin their protest on May 19.

The seven colleges are Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls' College, Government Titumir College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Government Bangla College.

These colleges collectively have about 200,000 students, over 1,000 teachers. Around 21,500 students get admitted to these colleges each session.

These seven colleges were affiliated with Dhaka University (DU) on February 17, 2017.