Cuet students agree to sit suspended exams under teachers’ initiative, reject VC’s involvement

Students of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) have agreed to sit examinations postponed during the ongoing shutdown under the initiative of teachers, while rejecting any involvement of Vice-Chancellor Prof Sheikh Shariful Alam in the process.

They have also reiterated their demand for the reinstatement of former vice-chancellor Prof Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem.

In a statement issued yesterday (7 November), the students said they had approached teachers to arrange the examinations themselves as the prolonged stalemate was disrupting their academic lives and causing difficulties for their families.

Following their request, deans, department heads and relevant teachers took the initiative to organise the examinations, they said.

However, the students objected to portraying the initiative as an achievement of any individual or an attempt to establish authority. They also protested against allegations targeting teachers involved in arranging the examinations and any possible disciplinary action against them.

Ahnauf Shahriar Arnab, a fourth-year student of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, told The Business Standard that several examinations had been postponed because of the shutdown, prompting students to seek their rescheduling to protect their academic futures.

“We approached the chief controller of examinations with a request to reschedule the exams, carrying the dean’s signature. But the newly appointed vice-chancellor intervened. Since we do not recognise him as vice-chancellor, we will not accept any form of intervention from him,” he said.

The statement came after Prof Sheikh Shariful Alam published a Facebook post yesterday titled “On Cuet’s current crisis and institutional recovery”.

In the post, he said the ongoing movement was prolonging students’ academic lives, with students and their families bearing the consequences of the disruption.

He said an emergency syndicate meeting on 16 October had decided to keep academic activities running. He also mentioned receiving emails from various individuals seeking to express their views on the university’s budget, admission test, holidays and academic activities.

The vice-chancellor said some of the views expressed in emails from students had drawn his attention.

One anonymous email shared in the post called for action against individuals allegedly encouraging students to continue the strike. It also accused the dean of failing to take effective steps to reschedule examinations, claiming this was prolonging the movement, and urged the vice-chancellor to intervene.

The students questioned the publication of the emails, saying it was unclear whether the senders were current students or how many students they represented. They argued that the views of an individual should not be presented as the position of the entire student body.

They also objected to the publication of examination schedules and official documents on Facebook alongside allegations against teachers and students. Issues concerning examination schedules should instead be resolved through discussions with deans, department heads and relevant university offices, they said.

In their statement, the students warned against what they described as baseless allegations against teachers who had taken the initiative to arrange the examinations, as well as attempts to take disciplinary action against them.

They also rejected claims that their movement was being fuelled by an interested group.

The students stressed that their willingness to sit the examinations under the teachers’ initiative did not mean accepting the vice-chancellor’s leadership.

They said their movement and demand for the reinstatement of former vice-chancellor Prof Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem would continue even after the examinations resumed.

The examinations postponed due to the shutdown are scheduled to begin on Wednesday (11 November).