Acting principal, 20 others remain confined

SYLHET, Sept 28: Acting principal, 14 teachers and six staff members of Sylhet Engineering College (SEC) have remained confined inside the institution’s administrative building for 24 hours as students continued their protest on Monday, demanding the college’s complete withdrawal from the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE).

The students began their demonstration around 11:00am on Sunday and locked the administrative building from outside, trapping the officials and employees inside.
The protesters said they would not remove the locks until their demand was met.

Talking to the Daily Observer around 11am, Acting Principal Md Asaduzzaman said, “We have been confined for 24 hours. We have informed the ministry and relevant authorities about the situation. They assured us that they are looking into the matter. We are bringing food from outside and receiving it through the gaps in the windows.” The students are demanding that both the academic and administrative functions of SEC be brought fully under Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST).

At present, the college’s academic activities are conducted under SUST, while its administrative affairs are managed by the DTE. According to the protesters, continued administrative control by the DTE undermines the professional recognition and value of their BSc Engineering degrees.

Established in 2007, SEC offers undergraduate programmes in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), Civil Engineering (CE), and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). The college has nearly 1,000 students across five batches, most of whom are participating in the ongoing protest, according to the students.

Meanwhile, a notification was issued on Sunday afternoon, during the protest, signed by Sajjad Hossain, deputy secretary of the Technical and Madrasah Education Division under the Ministry of Education.

According to the notification, Associate Professor Md Asaduzzaman, who had been serving as the acting principal of SEC, was transferred to Faridpur Engineering College. Associate Professor Md Sahid Iqbal of Mymensingh Engineering College was appointed as the new acting principal of SEC. Both were instructed to join their new posts by Monday.