Police on Sunday afternoon dispersed students of Medical Assistant Training School during their long march to the Bangladesh Secretariat in front of Shikkha Bhaban in the capital Dhaka.
They organised the march to press home their four-point demand, including more job opportunities.
Under the banner of General MATS Students Unity Council, former and current MATS students took position on the Shahbagh-Teacher-Student Centre road in front of the Bangladesh National Museum at around 11:00am.
The protesting students then announced a five-hour ultimatum saying that they would go for a long march if the government did not formally accept their demands within the time.
The demands included recruitment to vacant positions under the 10th grade and creation of employment opportunities and new positions in both government and private sectors, revision of the course curriculum and changing the institution鈥檚 name to 鈥楳edical Institute鈥�, abolition of the proposed Allied Health Professional Board and the establishment of an independent 鈥楳edical Education Board of Bangladesh, and opportunities for higher education in clinical subjects meeting international standards and recognition from the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council.
Akramul Haque, a student of Faridpur Government MATS, claimed that although the authorities asked for seven-working-day time at the end of January to fulfil their demands, no visible steps were taken.
Mostafizur Rahman, one of the coordinators of the platform, said that MATS students were severely suffering due to lack of job opportunities.
Muhammad Tuhin Farabi, personal officer to the health adviser, came to the spot at around 2:30pm and conveyed the message of the adviser to the protesters that a job circular for the vacant positions would be published on Monday and the health ministry had already started working on their demand for jobs under the 10th grade.
Tuhin asked the students to sit for a meeting with the authorities to discuss the other demands.
A five-member team of representatives from the protesters went to the ministry for the meeting, said Shahriar Porosh, a coordinator of the platform.
The protesters, meanwhile, broke through a police barricade at Shahbagh and began their long march towards the secretariat at about 4:15pm.
Police charged batons and threw a sound grenade to disperse the protesters when they tried to break through another police barricade in front of Shikkha Bhaban near the secretariat, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ramna Division deputy commissioner Masud Alam.
About 10-12 protesters were injured during the police action, Mostafizur claimed, adding that the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
He added that the next programme was yet to be decided.
Earlier, the MATS students blocked the Shahbagh crossing in the capital for nearly six hours bringing the traffic to a halt on January 22 pressing their four-point demand.
