Advisory Council approves ordinance on Dhaka Central University

 The Advisory Council on Thursday approved the final draft of the “Dhaka Central University Ordinance, 2026,” paving the way for establishing a dedicated university for the capital’s seven public colleges.

Upon receiving the news, students protesting at Dhaka College erupted in jubilation.

Around 2pm, Education Adviser CR Abrar phoned the college’s political science student Abdur Rahman, a key coordinator of the movement, to inform the protesters about the government measure, sending them ecstatic.

Abdur Rahman told reporters, “Our movement of 1.5 years have finally come to fruition.”

The ordinance marks a “major progress” in the country’s education sector, he and other protesters said.

The final draft has been significantly revised from last year’s version. It requires the government to establish a standalone permanent campus and self-sufficient infrastructure for carrying out academic and administrative activities of the seven colleges.

The new permanent campus will be used for preparing, and updating academic programmes, curriculum and schedules of sessions. It will primarily serve as a regulatory and affiliating body.

Therefore, the historic campus and administrative facilities of the present seven colleges will be retained. They will also retain their original names, while higher secondary studies will continue.

The previous provision of 35% mandatory online classes has also been scrapped in the final draft.