RU teacher takes ‘symbolic class’ protesting closure of universities

A Rajshahi University teacher has taken a 'symbolic class' under a tree protesting government's decision to remain all the educational institutions closed after conclusion of the lockdown amid the covid-19 pandemic.

Abdullah Al Mamun, Associate Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism department at Rajshahi University took the class at 'Lipu Chattar' in front of Rabindranath Tagore academic building of the university campus at 11:30 am on Monday.

He will take an onsite class on 'media and power relation', he said, earlier in a Facebook post on Friday, where around 10 to 15 students participated. He also vowed to continue the classes for next two days.

Meanwhile, Professor Bakhtiyar Ahmed of the Department of Anthropology and Associate Professor of the Folklore Department Amirul Islam Konak also expressed their solidarity to this exceptional example of protest.

Government's decision to remain educational institutions shut is illogical as the education system cannot run this way, they said.

Government should also consider the students' interests while everything is open in the country only except the educational institutions, they insisted.

Previously on 29 July, the government extended the closure of educational institutions to 31 August due to the worsening Covid-19 situation across the country. 

The decision was made to protect the health of students, teachers, workers and guardians based on the recommendations from the national advisory committee on Covid-19. 

The educational institutions have been closed since 17 March last year owing to the pandemic.

The government had planned to reopen schools several times but had been forced to extend the closure as the pandemic situation deteriorated.