The authorities of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) have started holding the masters and fourth-year honours students’ final examinations that were postponed for Covid-19 pandemic last year.
And after the 11 months shut, the university reopened on Sunday. However, the residential halls remain closed during the examinations.
In the first phase, examinations of masters and fourth-year honours students are being held.
And the rest final examinations of different year students will be taken gradually.
Earlier on March 16 last year, the government closed all the educational institutions of the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“We began holding examinations of masters and honours fourth-year students of all departments from Sunday maintaining health guidelines,” Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed, Vice Chancellor, told Bangladesh Post on Monday.
Replying to a query when the final examinations of first, second and third-year students will be held, he said after completion of masters and honours fourth-year students’ examinations they will hold the first, second and third-year students’ examinations.
“A meeting of the academic council will be held in this regard,” Farid Uddin Ahmed said.
He claimed that their university is completely free from session jam.
“But the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected the academic activities of all educational institutions badly. Yet, our teachers continued teaching students by taking regular virtual classes” the Vice Chancellor said.
As the dormitories will remain closed, the students are facing acute accommodation crisis. So the university authority has taken steps to ensure accommodation arrangement for female students outside the campus.
The male students have been asked to manage alternative accommodation as the university dormitories remain shut from March 16 in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides, as many students are also facing serious financial hardships due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the SUST authority also waived their tuition, transport and residential accommodation fees.
Replying to a query about accommodation crisis as residential halls remain closed, the Vice Chancellor said they do not have anything to do in this regard as they did not get any green signal from the government to reopen the residential halls.
“However, all heads of department are ensuring female students accommodation facilities. If any department does not take initiative to arrange accommodation for the female students, the students have been asked to contact the university authorities. And then the university authorities will take measures in this regard,” Farid Uddin Ahmed continued as saying.
Talking to reporters Md Alamgir Kabir, Assistant Proctor, SUST said as part of their decision, they have started holding the examinations.
“We are the first public university that has been conducting classes since April 4, 2020 in a bid to continue the academic activities normal. We ensured cent percent presence of students in the online classes,” he added.
He said since then the students have been staying at their respective homes and attending virtual classes and examinations.
“We don’t want to affect the academic activities of the students. So, we have started holding the examinations in phases,” the assistant proctor said.
He said as the university authority is determined to make the institution free from session jam, it is coming up with various measures so that students would not suffer from session jam even if the coronavirus pandemic persists for long time.
However, the students are unhappy over the university authorities’ decision as it will hold the final examinations keeping the dormitories shut.
Earlier, all course teachers of different departments of the university were instructed to complete the ‘term test’ examinations by giving assignment to the students, taking viva and holding examinations with short questions.
Apart from the course teachers, deans of different faculties and chiefs of discipline are also overseeing the overall process to hold the term test examinations in proper and systematic way.
Meanwhile, students of public universities continued demanding reopening of residential dormitories before sitting for exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
They said students must be provided with residential facilities, health protection, and transport facilities to prepare for examinations, adding that the decision of holding exams while keeping the halls shut was irrational.
There are not enough accommodation facilities around the university, the students said expecting that the university would take the exams after ensuring residential facilities
They have demanded that either the university reopens the residential halls on a limited scale or provide the students with alternative accommodation facilities.
