Teachers and employees of MPO-listed non-government educational institutions in Bangladesh have suspended their planned “Long March to the Jamuna” and announced a continuous hunger strike to press home their three-point demand, including a 20% increase in house rent allowance.

The announcement was made on Thursday afternoon by Principal Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the Education Nationalisation Demand Alliance. “Tomorrow we will begin fasting. If our demands remain unmet, we will continue until death. Our bodies will go—alive or dead,” he declared at the gathering.

Azizi also announced that starting Sunday, all classes in private educational institutions would be suspended.

The teachers say the government’s proposed increase in housing and medical allowances is “insufficient and unrealistic.” They are demanding a 20% house rent allowance based on basic salary, a higher medical allowance, and the implementation of a universal transfer policy.

Earlier on Sunday, police clashed with protesting teachers near the National Press Club while attempting to remove them, during which sound grenades were reportedly used. Later, the teachers relocated to the Central Shaheed Minar and announced a continuous sit-in.

Many of the protesting teachers have been staying at the Shaheed Minar under the open sky for two consecutive nights. They vowed to continue their strike and class boycott until a formal government gazette is issued addressing their demands.

The results of the 2025 Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations have been published, showing a national pass rate of 58.83 percent — a sharp decline of nearly 19 percent from last year’s 77.78 percent.

The results were released simultaneously online and at respective educational institutions at 10 a.m. on Thursday (October 16).

According to the Ministry of Education, 1,251,111 students took part in the exams under 11 education boards, including 618,015 male and 633,096 female candidates. The examinations were held across 2,797 centers nationwide.

Among the general education boards, Dhaka recorded the highest pass rate with 64.62%, followed by Barishal (62.57%), Rajshahi (59.40%), and Dinajpur (57.49%). The lowest pass rate was in Comilla Board (48.86%).

Under the Madrasah Board, 86,102 students sat for the Alim exams, while 109,611 candidates appeared under the Technical Education Board (HSC BM/BMT).

Students can access their results through the official education board websites by entering their roll and institutional codes, or via SMS by typing:
HSC <Board Code> <Roll> 2025 and sending it to 16222.

After a 35-year hiatus, the Islamic Chhatra Shibir-backed panel, Sampreetir Shikkharthi Jote (Alliance for Harmony), has won 24 posts including Vice President (VP) and General Secretary (GS) in the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union (CUCSU) election. Meanwhile, the post of Assistant General Secretary (AGS) went to Ayubur Rahman Tawfiq of the BNP-backed student panel.

The results were announced by Chief Election Commissioner Professor Monir Uddin at around 5 a.m. on Thursday (October 16) at the university’s BBA Auditorium.

According to the official results, Ibrahim Rony, a 2017–18 session student of the History Department, won the VP post with 7,983 votes, while Saeed Bin Habib, a 2019–20 session History student, won the GS post with 8,031 votes. The AGS position went to Ayubur Rahman Tawfiq, a student of the 2021–22 session in the Department of Islamic History and Culture, who secured 7,014 votes.

A total of 13 panels contested the election with 907 candidates—including 415 for 26 central positions and 493 for 14 hall positions. The election had 27,516 registered voters, comprising 16,184 males and 11,329 females.

Voting took place on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., marking the first CUCSU election in over three decades. University authorities and students described the event as a “historic restoration of student democracy” on campus.