Students force university to suspend exams during World Cup
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-29 11:06
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Student protesters demanding that their studies
should not interfere with their enjoyment of World Cup soccer games managed
Sunday to sway authorities at a top Bangladeshi university to suspend classes
and examinations during the monthlong event.
Authorities at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology made a
decision Sunday to postpone classes and exams until July 14, the university said
in a statement.
Students have been protesting since Thursday, urging authorities to
reschedule their classes and end of term exams until after the World Cup. Final
examinations were scheduled to be held from June 3 to 29.
The protesters locked campus gates, staged sit-ins, held marches shouting
slogans and laid siege to the vice-chancellor's office.
"We will be watching the games at night, and will be too tired and excited to
study properly for the exams," Tareq Hasan, a protesting student said over
telephone.
Many matches from the June 9-July 9 tournament in Germany will be telecast
live in Bangladesh late into the night, because of a five-hour time difference.
Low-ranking Bangladesh has never made it to the World Cup finals, but
interest in the four-yearly games is high across the soccer-crazy nation of 144
million people.
Fans gearing up for the World Cup finals have already started displaying
flags of their favorite teams atop houses and buildings - with Argentina,
Brazil, Germany, France and Italy among the most popular. Many are also taking
advantage of special prices offered by several electronics companies to buy new
television sets.
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