APEE students start hunger strike at RU
Around 40 students of applied physics and electronic engineering (APEE) went on an indefinite hunger strike at Rajshahi University yesterday, demanding a merger of their department with the electrical and electronic engineering (EEE) department.
The students began the strike following the engineering faculty's decision to not merge the departments on November 29.
Meanwhile, six students fell sick after the protest started around 11:00am in front of the first science building and were taken to the university medical centre. The strike was going on till filing of the report at 8:30pm, with the number of participants getting more than doubled.
Demonstrators argued that there is hardly any job opportunity for APEE students in the country nowadays. Moreover, the two curriculums are almost same. Public universities including Dhaka University have converted APEE into EEE, considering the demand of time and RU should follow suit, they said.
Mehedy Hasan, a protester, said, “We get an engineering certificate, but apply for jobs like non-engineering bachelors because employers hardly ask for APEE graduates now.”
APEE students first started their protest on November 11 by declaring to boycott class and exams indefinitely if their demand was not met.
Meanwhile, EEE students oppose the demand for a merger. To resist any such initiative, they started an indefinite class and exam boycott on November 28.
Talking to The Daily Star, the engineering faculty dean, Prof Md Ekramul Hamid, said he held a meeting with both departments on November 29 but could not come to a decision. Vice Chancellor Prof M Abdus Sobhan said necessary steps will be taken in the next academic council meeting tomorrow.
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