ZCZC
BSS-21
DU-EXAM-HALL-DEMAND
DU student bodies for reopening halls before exam
DHAKA, Dec 13, 2020 (BSS) – Different student organizations and general students of Dhaka University (DU) continued to protest the authorities’ decision to hold exams without opening halls and demanded to reconsider the decision immediately and open halls before exam.
Soon after the authorities took the decision of holding examination of final year and master’s, students without opening halls from December 26, students started protesting and expressing their anger in various ways including posting in social media, forming human chain and staging movement.
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) today submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor of the university Dr Akhtaruzzaman urging to reconsider the decision and hold exams ensuring accommodation and maintaining all health guidelines.
Recently, most of the student bodies including Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad, Bangladesh Chhatra Federation and Bangladesh Students’ Union (BSU) in separate statements demanded opening of dormitories otherwise what they said threatening to take to the street.
Students’ bodies of the university welcomed the university’s decision of holding honours final year and master’s exams aiming to reduce session jam but they protested holding of exams without opening dormitories as a lion portion of the students from far flung areas of the country do not have alternate accommodation facilities to the resident halls.
Terming the decision as one sided, anti-student’s interest and inconsistent with reality, they urged the authorities to hold the final year undergraduate and postgraduate exams ensuring accommodation facility and maintaining all the health guidelines and protocol.
In the BCL statement, signed by BCL DU unit president Sanjit Chandra Das and general secretary Saddam Hussein on Saturday, they termed the decision as anti students’ interest and said, “To check session jam and let the students appear in competitive job examinations, it is necessary to hold the examinations within a short period but without ensuring students’ accommodation, it is partially harmful for students’ interests and is in no way a guardian-like attitude.”
“The university will have to arrange the examinations on time, following health safety guidelines and other rules, set by the government,” it added.
The university administration’s proposal did not reflect the views of students as they did not ensure students’ participation in the decision-making process and failed to protect students’ rights, read the statement of BSU signed by its DU unit General Secretary Rageeb Naeem.
“We think that opening the hall for the examinees by ensuring health protection and holding the examinations is the best, fair and realistic solution,” the statement read.
Expressing anger, a final year student of DU Mehedi hasan said, “Students are not even able to buy mobile data to attend in classes due to lack of money. In this situation, how they will manage the money for house rent and stay in Dhaka and manage money for house rent.”
Earlier on Friday, a group of students of Dhaka University (DU) formed a human chain at the foot of Anti-Terrorist Raju Memorial Sculpture on the campus demanding opening the residential halls of the university before starting the examinations.
Meanwhile, a Facebook group of the university ‘Shopner Dhaka Bisshobiddaly’ conducted an opinion poll on Thursday with the headline ‘Is it logical to take exams without opening halls’ where 3966 students voted in favor of opening hall out of 4,152.
“However, the university is not thinking to reopen the dormitories as the decision was taken considering the health safety of the students as well as overall betterment of teachers and employees” DU Vice-Chancellor Dr Akhtaruzzaman told BSS.
“As the students are from different districts of the country, it is right that they have some real problems and thus, we have asked the teachers of the departments to communicate with the students and take proper care of them in this case,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, the authorities of the university at an academic council decided to hold Honours final year and master’s examinations from December 26 to avoid session jam of the students.
BSS/MMM/FI/ 1718 hrs