Private university students continued their protest yesterday demanding withdrawal of 7.5 percent VAT (value added tax) imposed on the educational institutions from the fiscal 2015-16.

Farhan Habib, coordinator of the protest programme, said they would file a petition with the Supreme Court if their demand is not met. The VAT will make students unable to continue their study in private universities and turn the educational institutes into business institutes, said Fazlay Rubbi Taj, student of Daffodil University.

In the proposed budget of 2015-16, the government imposed 10 per cent VAT on private universities and medical and engineering colleges which later was reduced to 7.5 per cent following the request of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Students of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Stamford University, Daffodil International University, Green University, East West University, BUBT, AIUB, IUBAT, and Asia-Pacific University organised yesterday's protest rally at the capital's Shahbagh under the banner, "No VAT on Education".