Arafat Rahaman

From Shahbagh to Kushtia, repeated attacks show that official warnings mean little when violent crowds face too few consequences

Is involvement in politics a crime? Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon posed that question while defending the government’s decision to appoint vice-chancellors to seven universities and a new chairman of the University Grants Commission on Monday.

Former vice-chancellor Prof Mohammad Masud misused funds from a German-backed research project, made irregular appointments and withdrew salary after his removal from office at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet), according to a government-formed investigation report.

Amid doubts over its political future and alliance choices, the youth-led National Citizen Party (NCP) has made an eye-catching debut, winning six seats in its first parliamentary election.

The “Yes” vote in Thursday’s referendum received comparatively lower support than in the previous three plebiscites.

A government consultation committee has recommended limiting SSC exams to five core subjects -- Bangla, English, mathematics, science, and social science -- while keeping PSC and JSC exams in classes 5 and 8 scrapped.

Draft report urges universal schooling to Class 12, delayed stream division and academic calendar reform

Several public universities have lately been shaken by incidents in which teachers were harassed, confined to their offices, or even assaulted by student leaders over alleged links to the previous regime, with the authorities failing to prevent the recurrence of such untoward events.

The information and broadcasting ministry yesterday published drafts of ordinances of the national media and broadcast commissions and sought opinions by Saturday.

Young voters want citizens’ safety and security at core of their election manifestos, with special focus on safeguarding freedom of expression and protecting rights of minority communities

With the national election just 18 days away, political parties are finalising their manifestos. The Daily Star spoke to experts to identify the pressing issues that should top the agenda for parties.

The government has finalised the draft ordinance to establish Dhaka Central University, which will primarily function as an affiliating and regulatory body for seven affiliated colleges.

The University of Asia Pacific (UAP), which announced an indefinite closure on Monday, remained shut yesterday amid ongoing student protests over a controversial Facebook post, the subsequent termination of two faculty members, and demands for the vice-chancellor’s removal.

Despite submitting nomination papers, the party remains short of election-ready structures, with crucial tasks, such as strategy-setting and manifesto drafting, either stalled or unfinished.

The Jamaat-led alliance has so far left 29 parliamentary seats for the National Citizen Party, but aspirants from other allies remain in the race in at least 21 of those constituencies, NCP sources said.

Primary schoolchildren across the country received full sets of new textbooks yesterday, but about a quarter of secondary-level textbooks did not reach the schools, leaving millions of students without complete sets on the first day of the academic year.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) was born with a claim that it would not practise politics as usual.

With the new academic year just two days away, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has yet to distribute more than 40 percent of the 21.43 crore textbooks for secondary-level students, leaving many to begin classes without a full set of books.

Acknowledging organisational limits would show NCP's seriousness, not weakness

For a country that aspires to middle-income status, the lesson of 2025 is stark