KUET students, teachers to return to class after five and a half months

Academic activities at the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) are set to resume after a suspension of nearly five and a half months.

The KUET Teachers’ Association suspended its ongoing protest programmes for three weeks on Monday morning, reports bdnews24.com.

Hours later, newly appointed Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Md Maksud Helali directed that classes begin on Tuesday.

“Teachers and students have agreed that academic activities and investigations will continue at the same time. That’s why we have issued the instruction to restart classes,” he said.

Faruk Hossain, general secretary of the KUET Teachers’ Association, said: “We have suspended our movement for three weeks following assurances from the vice-chancellor.

“If the administration declares classes open, teachers will attend.”

The decision followed two days of discussions involving the vice-chancellor, Teachers’ Association, faculty deans, department heads, students, law-enforcing agencies, and local residents.

The announcement of class resumption has brought relief among students, who have been waiting for academic and exam activities to restart.

The KUET was established in 1967 as Khulna Engineering College under the engineering faculty of Rajshahi University.

In 1984, it became Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT) Khulna, and later in 2003, it was upgraded to Khulna University of Engineering and Technology.

University officials say that since its founding, the KUET has not seen such a prolonged disruption in its academic calendar.

The crisis began on Feb 18 when violence erupted on campus between activists of the BNP’s student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and supporters of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement over a call to ban student politics. More than 50 students were injured.

That night, students accused the then VC of favouring the attackers and issued five demands, including his resignation.

On Feb 19 at 1:30pm, students locked down academic and administrative buildings in protest.

Earlier, the former VC had been confined to the university medical centre from 4pm on Feb 18 until around 5:15pm the following day.

During this time, he presided over an emergency syndicate meeting online.

On Feb 21, students locked the entrance to the VC’s residence. He returned to his home at 11pm on Feb 24.

On Feb 25, students gave the VC a deadline of 10:30am to leave his residence.

That same day, the university was declared closed indefinitely and students were ordered to vacate their halls.

Following the clashes, KUET’s syndicate temporarily expelled 37 students at a meeting on Apr 14, after the Eid-ul-Fitr break.

The expulsions triggered fresh protests, with students demanding the VC’s resignation.

From Apr 21, a total of 32 students began a hunger strike on campus.

To address the crisis, a delegation from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Education Advisor CR Abrar visited KUET on Apr 23.

The students ended their hunger strike following promises to meet their demands.

That night, the interim government announced the process to remove the then VC Prof Muhammad Mashud and Pro-VC Prof Sheikh Shariful Alam.

On May 1, the education ministry appointed Prof Md Hazrat Ali from the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) as interim VC.

Although classes were scheduled to begin on May 4, teachers did not return.

On May 18, they also began boycotting administrative duties, demanding punishment for those involved in assaulting faculty members.

The interim VC resigned on May 22.

On Jul 24, Prof Maksud of BUET’s Mechanical Engineering Department was appointed as the VC of KUET.