Online Desk: Students from the seven Dhaka University-affiliated colleges blocked the Nilkhet-New Market intersection on Mirpur Road around 12:00pm today, demanding that the authorities ease the minimum CGPA requirement so they can be promoted to the next academic year.

The intersection remained blocked till filing of this report at 4:00pm, reports our DU correspondent from the spot. Due to their protest, severe gridlock was seen on the connecting roads; vehicular movement was also restricted in the university area. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of people were suffering due to the blockade and many started walking to their destination.

For the same demand, students earlier on August 16 staged a demonstration and blocked the same intersection for an hour. Taslim Chowdhury, a final-year student at Titumir College, said on that day, “The authorities have published our results after nine months of examinations, while we have already lost two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We had no choice but to take a position on the road. We have urged the authorities to ease the existing CGPA requirements, which are unfriendly to students,” he added. According to Dhaka University’s current criteria, to advance to the second year, first-year students must achieve a minimum CGPA of 2.00; second-year students must achieve 2.25; and third-year students must achieve 2.50.