Bangladesh Agricultural University: Students confine VC, over 200 teachers

Students of two faculties at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) have confined more than 200 teachers, including the Vice-Chancellor, in protest against the authorities’ refusal to fully implement their demand for a “combined degree”.

The protesting students locked the doors of the Zainul Abedin Auditorium, confining the Vice-Chancellor Professor AK Fazlul Haque Bhuiyan and the assembled faculty members inside around 1:00 pm on Sunday.

As of 6:00pm, the teachers were still being held.

The protest stems from the long-standing demand of students from the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and the Faculty of Veterinary Science to merge their programmes into a single degree — BSc in Veterinary and Animal Husbandry.

Earlier in the day, the Academic Council met at the auditorium around 11:00 am and decided to introduce the combined degree while also continuing to offer separate degrees in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry.

Rejecting the three-degree formula, the protesting students insisted on “one profession, one degree”. Witnesses said the demonstrating students locked the auditorium immediately after the announcement.

Professor Md Asaduzzaman Sarkar, General Secretary of the BAU Teachers’ Association, said that the Academic Council had unanimously approved the combined degree. A four-member committee headed by the Dean Council’s convener has also been formed to develop the course curriculum.

According to him, from the next academic session, 150 students will be admitted into the combined programme. Current students will be given the option to choose among the three degrees. Under university regulations, the two faculties cannot be merged; instead, they will jointly confer the combined degree, with each continuing to provide a dean in rotation.

The students who have been protesting since 25 July, however, rejected this decision.

“Our demand is a single degree — the combined one. This decision does not fulfil that demand. Until it does, we will continue our protest,” said Tahmina Akhter, a third-year student of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry.

Mira, a second-year student, added, “We have been boycotting classes and exams for 36 days. The combined degree is given greater value in jobs everywhere. By offering three degrees, the teachers are only creating bigger problems for the future. Our demand is simple: one profession, one degree.”