After 34 Days of Deadlock, Teachers and Students Return to Classes at CUET on Tuesday

After a long 34-day deadlock, teachers and students are returning to classes at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) from tomorrow, Tuesday (27 October).

The students announced the decision in an open letter addressed to teachers on Sunday (25 October). In the letter they said the long closure of classes and examinations was damaging their education and increasing uncertainty about their future. In this situation they do not want academic losses to grow further, so they have taken a position in favour of returning quickly to classrooms and resuming normal academic activities.

However, they stated in the letter that the decision to return to classes should not be seen as stepping back from the movement. The combined movement of students, teachers, officers and employees continues on the one-point demand to reinstate former vice-chancellor Professor Dr Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem. They also said the movement will continue until the demand is met.

The students further said the movement will continue until the demand to reinstate the former vice-chancellor is fulfilled. They also warned that if the newly appointed vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Sheikh Shariful Alam, enters the campus, they will go into a tougher movement again.

Masum Billah, a fourth-year student of the mechanical engineering department, said: “Because classes and examinations have been closed for a long time, our education and future have fallen into uncertainty. We want normal academic activities to return quickly. But returning to classes does not mean stepping back from our just demand.”