‘Edu minister leading sector to destruction’

By keeping educational institutions closed for more than 15 months, the education minister is leading the sector to destruction, leaders and activists of different left-leaning student organisations said yesterday.

At a rally at the base of Dhaka University's Raju Memorial Sculpture in the afternoon, under the banner of "Progressive Student Alliance", they called for immediate reopening of all educational institutions by working out a roadmap and vaccinating teachers, students, and staff.

Foez Ullah, president of Bangladesh Students Union, said educational institution have been closed for about 16 months. The government has no plan on how to resume education in primary schools.

"We have seen that students were forced to attend online classes with no facilities for getting devices [phones and computers]. In this way, the education minister is leading the education sector to destruction," he claimed, adding that the budget proposed this year did not take the students into account.

They also demanded withdrawal of the 15 percent tax on private universities and colleges proposed recently at the parliament for the 2021-22 fiscal. Instead, they demanded full tuition fee waiver, considering the Covid-19 situation.

They said illegal income and wealth of owners of private universities and colleges must be confiscated, and uniform tuition fee policies at private universities must be ensured.

Convenor of Progressive Student Alliance Masud Rana, President of Socialist Students Front Al Kaderi Joy and General Secretary Nasir Uddin Prince also spoke at the rally.