Prime Minister and Education Minister Hold Urgent Crisis Meeting

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held an emergency meeting with Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haq Milan at the National Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon. The high-level discussions come amidst escalating nationwide protests by Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinees. The students are demanding the resignation of the Education Minister following the controversial decision to conduct examinations during severe rainfall and widespread waterlogging on Monday.

The demonstrations, which began on Tuesday morning, saw thousands of college students blocking major roads, staging sit-ins, and holding rallies across the country. Key protest sites included areas outside the Dhaka Education Board, the Science Laboratory intersection, Uttara, Mymensingh, Barisal, Bogra, Narayanganj, and Chittagong. The widespread blockades severely disrupted vehicular movement on several critical national highways and urban thoroughfares.

At the Science Laboratory intersection, students returned to occupy the road at around quarter to four in the afternoon after staging a demonstration outside the Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board. The blockade halted traffic on the busy Mirpur Road, creating immense congestion in adjacent areas. Earlier in the day, the students had marched from Science Lab towards the Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor’s residence, where they were stopped by police, prompting them to redirect their march towards the education board via the Palashi intersection.

A diverse group of students from various institutions, including Dhaka City College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College, Udayan College, Milestone College, Dhaka Commerce College, Dhaka Oriental College, Hamdard Public College, and Siddheswari College, joined the protests.

The candidates raised serious concerns regarding both examination conditions and academic standards. Several examinees from Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College alleged that the Physics First Paper contained two errors out of eight questions, whilst the remaining six questions were disproportionately difficult, resembling university admission tests. Meanwhile, science students from Dhaka Ideal College highlighted that the hostile weather prevented many from attending the examination. Some candidates fell on waterlogged roads, damaging their admit cards beyond use.

In Uttara, demonstrators blocked the roads near the BNS Tower and both sides of the ECB Crossing, bringing traffic on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway to a complete standstill. The queue of stranded vehicles heading towards the airport stretched as far back as the Kuril Flyover.

The protests also intensified outside the capital. In Narayanganj, students gathered at the Chashara Central Shaheed Minar to demand the postponement of exams due to current flooding, calling for a re-examination for those who missed the papers on 13 July. In Mymensingh, HSC candidates blocked the town hall area at noon, halting traffic on the Mymensingh-Tangail Highway, before demonstrating in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

A similar demonstration occurred in Bogra, where students marched from the city’s Satmatha area to the local administration offices, issuing a 24-hour ultimatum for their demands to be met. Further south, candidates blocked the Dhaka-Barisal Highway in front of the Barisal Education Board, whilst in Gaibandha, students staged a blockade on the Gaibandha-Palashbari regional highway near the town’s rail gate, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.