Students of polytechnic institutes staged demonstration on Monday at Satrasta intersection in Tejgaon, triggering traffic gridlock in the adjacent areas. 

Some students under the banner of ‘Technical Student Movement’ took to the street around 12 pm carrying placards to press home their 6-point demand.

Officer-in-Charge of Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station Gazi Shamimur Rahman said that vehicular movement came to a halt on both sides of the road due to the blockade. “We are trying to negotiate with the protesters to clear the roads.”

Long lines of vehicles including buses, private cars and autorickshws have been stranded from Farmgate through Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue to Shahbagh.

The students’ demands are immediate transfer of all ‘controversial’ craft instructors appointed in 2021 from the Directorate of Technical Education and all affiliated institutions, ensuring that the Diploma in Engineering course remains a four-year program and that each semester (term) is of full six-month duration.

Besides, restricting applications for the post of Sub-Assistant Engineer (10th grade) to only diploma engineers, and reserving the post of Sub-Assistant Engineer and equivalent positions for diploma engineers, reforming the Technical Education Board to ensure that no non-technical personnel are involved in managing the technical sector.

Their other demands are amending the controversial recruitment rules of the Directorate of Technical Education and filling all vacant positions with technical personnel to alleviate the shortage of teachers and ensuring 100% seat allocation in the proposed four engineering colleges to increase opportunities for higher education for diploma engineering students.