PABNA, June 27: Manifold problems, including inadequate infrastructure, are debilitating academic activities at Pabna University of Science and Technology (PUST) in Pabna.
Among the significant problems the one and a half-decade-old seat of learning encountering is shortage of classrooms, laboratories and residential halls.
Sources said session jam has turned menacing at the university due to lack of an appropriate environment of study mainly resulting from the shortage of the basic amenities.
Existing session jam got in the way of appearing at the 46th BCS examination this time for students of six out of the 21 departments of the institution, the sources added.
The victims lamented that had there been no session jam at the university, they could have sat for the BCS exam fairly well this time.
It is learned that classes and examinations were being hampered due to the only one academic building in the university.
Some departments also do not have the required number of laboratories.
Construction work of a new academic building and two residential halls started in December 2020 to solve the classroom and accommodation crisis, but the work period has been extended by five phases. But the work is still going on.
Blaming the project director's office and the contractor for slowness of work, the university authorities said that once the construction work of the academic building and two halls was completed, the students' classroom, examination and accommodation problems will be solved to a large extent.
There are about 350 students in seven batches of honours in the Department of History. In contrast, there is only one classroom.
Consequently, teachers cannot complete classes and exams within the stipulated time.
The Department of Statistics also faces the crisis of classrooms and laboratories. As the department has no lab of its own, the lab of another department has to be used.
The situation in the pharmacy department is even worse. Many students said classes and exams get delayed due to other department's lab schedule.
Some of the third-year students said that due to the classroom crisis, even if the teachers wanted to, they could not conduct routine examinations.
About 6,000 students are now receiving education from the university.
In 16 years of establishment of the university, only one academic building, one administrative building, two halls and two residential buildings for teachers and staff have been constructed.
The number of seats in the two residential halls (one for male and another for female students) is 788.
Among them, Bangabandhu Hall provides accommodation facilities for 522 students and Sheikh Hasina Hall for 266 students.
Work on the second development project costing more than Tk480 crore on the university campus is progressing slowly.
The project includes two 12-storey academic buildings and 10-storey Sheikh Russell Student Hall and Bangmata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Student Hall.
Work on Sheikh Russell Hall for boys and Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall for girls started in December 2020 at a cost of Tk543.39.
The construction work of the two halls began in December 2020 and was scheduled to be completed by July 2021.
Later, due to various problems, the project work was extended by six months following permission from the ministry.
In this way, the work period was extended five times showing various problems.
A third-year student whose hails from Natore said, "I have applied for a seat in the hall since admission. I haven't got a seat yet. For some time, I stayed at a relative's house, sometimes here and there."
Khandkar Nishat Tasnim, a student of the architecture department of the university, said that if there was a hall, the cost would have reduced a lot. Some final year BBA students said that they are forced to stay in messes.
Provost of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall Omar Faruque told The Financial Express that the number of seats in the hall is 522. The under-construction ten-story 1000-seat Sheikh Russell Hall will reduce the residential problems largely.
Vice-Chancellor Dr Hafiza Khatun told The Financial Express that one male student hall and one female student hall were going to be opened very soon. Construction of the new academic building is nearing completion. As a result, the university's accommodation and classroom crisis would be resolved.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
