Police block HSC examinees' march to Secretariat at Shikkha Bhaban
As part of the same programme, another group of HSC examinees began a long march from Uttara towards the Secretariat this afternoon.
Police today (15 July) set up barricades and stopped protesting Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinees in front of the Shikkha Bhaban in Dhaka as they attempted to march towards the Secretariat to press home their three-point demands.
The students reached the Shikkha Bhaban around 4pm via the Dhaka University area, where they were met with police barricades.
They subsequently staged a sit-in and chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, among other demands.
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Earlier, at around 3:10pm, the students began marching from the Science Laboratory area towards the Secretariat.
Traffic at the Science Lab intersection gradually returned to normal after they left the area.
On the ground, students were seen chanting slogans and displaying placards carrying their demands during the sit-in programme before setting off on the march.
Members of law enforcement agencies were deployed in and around the procession and remained on alert.
One student participating in the long march said they had come to press their demands peacefully and would continue their movement until those demands were met.
Another student said many examinees had suffered due to the decision to hold examinations amid adverse weather conditions and urged the authorities to address their demands promptly.
During the march, the protesters chanted slogans and carried placards calling for the postponement of the HSC examinations and the resignation of the education minister.
After the students vacated the roads, traffic movement gradually returned to normal at the Science Lab intersection and on Mirpur Road, Elephant Road and roads leading towards Shahbagh.
The blockade had caused severe traffic congestion in the area.
Long march from Uttara
As part of the same programme, another group of HSC examinees began a long march from Uttara towards the Secretariat this afternoon.
The protesters set off from the BNS Centre area in Uttara around 3:45pm after staging a road blockade in the area earlier in the day.
Students also held demonstrations and sit-in programmes at Mirpur-10 and ECB Chattar in support of the movement.
According to the protesters, many HSC and equivalent examination candidates have faced significant difficulties due to continuous rainfall, waterlogging and ongoing floods in several parts of the country.
Three-point demands
The protesting students have placed three key demands before the government: postponing HSC and equivalent examinations until the country's disaster situation returns to normal, arranging a retake examination for candidates who were unable to sit for the 13 July exam, and securing the resignation of the education minister.
Security tightened around Secretariat
The demonstrations disrupted traffic movement on several roads in the capital.
In response to the protest programme, security measures have been strengthened in and around the Secretariat. Members of law enforcement agencies remain deployed in the area and are maintaining a heightened state of alert.
