IU students give 5-day ultimatum for reopening of campus, halls

The students of Islamic University staged demonstrations for the 3rd consecutive days on Tuesday and gave a 5-day ultimatum to the authorities for reopening the campus and the residential halls of the university.

The students gave the ultimatum at a press conference held at the Chaal Chattar area on the campus around 11:30 am.

After the press conference, the students brought out a protest rally from the Daina Chattar area which ended in front of the administration building after parading the main roads of the campus.

They also observed a sit-in programme there to press home their demands.

Students will face session jams as the university has been kept closed for a long time due to the pandemic, the agitating students said.

The students demanded the university authorities continue their bachelors' and Master’s final examinations.

Earlier, on Monday, Education Minister Dipu Moni said classes in all the public and private universities will resume on May 24.

The residential halls of the universities will be reopened on May 17, said the Minister while addressing a virtual press briefing.

However, the online classes will continue but no examination will be held before the reopening of the universities, the minister added.

The government shut all the schools and educational institutions on March 17 last year after the country confirmed its first Covid-19 cases on March 8.

The closure was extended several times, most recently until February 28 this year, to protect the students from the virus infections.

Online classes are going on at different educational institutions.

The decision of reopening public universities came amid demonstrations by students of different public universities, including Jahangirnagar University and Rajshahi University, demanding the reopening of dormitories.

Besides, the Covid-19 situation has been improving in Bangladesh steadily in recent weeks. Meanwhile, a countrywide vaccination drive was launched on Feb 7.