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Students at Government Titumir College have paused protests and returned to their classrooms after a week-long shutdown programme following “assurances” from the government regarding their demand to upgrade the institution to a university.
However, they have already announced they will resume their protest in a week if there is no visible progress on the assurances.
Classes were held from 8:45 am to 11:00 am on Tuesday, and the final exams for the third-year students were held at 12:30 pm, bdnews24.com reports.
"Our protest programme is now suspended for seven days. We'll announce the next course of action based on the government's decision," says student protest leader Nur Mohammad.
The students began staging a protest programme on January 28 to push for a seven-point list of demands that included state recognition for the college’s transformation into an independent university. The following day, some of the protesting students launched a hunger strike.
On Monday, officials from the education ministry assured the students of increasing their benefits and advantages and convinced them to halt the hunger strike. However, there was no concrete assurance about converting the college into a university.
"We hope the government will fulfil our demands. Otherwise, we'll have to start the protests again. We don't want any more troubles, but a proper environment for students to study," said Rohan Hossain, a first-year student in the Department of Physics.
Department of Management student Rafiqul Islam said that although students had returned to the classrooms, attendance was quite low.
“This is how it is at the start. Maybe the attendance will increase later. The coordinators will announce fresh programmes if our demands are not met. We will stand in solidarity with the protesters."
"We have returned to classes after the [government] announcement. We are hopeful regarding their assurance. All of us decided to return to class together," said another student Ashiqur Rahman Anto.
Students from seven colleges previously affiliated with Dhaka University had been protesting for a long time to demand the government separate them from the institution and form a university to oversee them. Students at Titumir College then demanded that their institution be turned into a separate independent university.
The protests by the students from the seven colleges intensified following the changeover in the government.
On January 26, students from seven colleges clashed with Dhaka University students in several rounds. The following day, Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Niaz Ahmed Khan announced the affiliation with the seven colleges would be ended.