Admin building again locked for 10hrs

After keeping the administrative building of Sylhet Engineering College locked for around 10 hours yesterday to press home their 12-point demand, agitating students suspended their movement following assurance that those will be fulfilled.

Earlier, the students locked the main entrance of the building of the college, which is also an engineering faculty section of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust), from 10:00am. They also cut off the electricity and water connection of the building.

Around 7:30pm, Assistant Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Sylhet, Syed Md Aminur Rahman, assured the students of fulfilling their demands in consultation with the college authorities.

Jahid Hossain, a student, said they had suspended their movement following assurance, but would stick to their demands.  As the agitating students put the building under lock and key, teachers and administrative staff were confined to the building till 7:30pm.

A discussion among the ADC, the college principal, and students was going on, said acting Principal Abdul Halim around 8:00pm. Earlier, the principal said the authorities  had fulfilled some of the demands, but all the demands could not be fulfilled overnight. On December 26, the students similarly kept the building locked for 12 hours in demand of their 12-point. They unlocked the building after getting assurance from the authority to look into the matter in one week.

Their prime demand is to utilise the annual budget of the college for the development of the institution. They also demanded that semester schedules be maintained by creating academic calendar, all scheduled classes be conducted regularly and courses be completed on time, fees collection be performed through direct banking instead of mobile banking, accommodation fees be reduced, dormitory problems be solved, full-time efficient teachers be appointed, campus security be tightened, wi-fi connections on the campus as well as at dormitories, college bus for students, and “corruptions and anomalies in the administration” be stopped.