Many DU students fear losing part-time jobs for shelter crisis

FE Team | Published: September 01, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Losing their only living places at Dhaka University dormitories due to its indefinite closure, hundreds of resident students are facing a severe problem in continuing their part-time employments by which they used to meet their own educational expenses and often support their poor families, reports UNB.
The DU students, who mainly came from rural areas, are engaged in tutoring school students at homes and coaching centres or in part-time jobs in private institutions alongside their own studies.
These students including a good number of female ones were forced to leave their dormitories on August 22, as the government closed the university for an indefinite period and vacated its dormitories in the wake of a violent student agitation on the campus.
Among the students, many do not have any alternative place to stay back in the city from where they could continue their jobs.
"I worked for a coaching centre. I have to live in a dormitory, as my family cannot afford to rent a house for me. Now my job is at stake," Hasan Ali, a 3rd year student of Bangla Department, told the news agency over phone from his hometown in Jessore.
Hasan said the management of his coaching centre told him that they are already looking for an alternative teacher, as he is absent for the last eight days.
Hasan's case is not unique. His six roommates, also engaged in various jobs, are in the same trouble as well.
Amena Khatun, a master's student of Mass Communication and Journalism Department, had to leave for her hometown in Jhenidah. She is an internee of a private media organisation. She too apprehends to lose her job for being absent for a long time.
Many students from villages told the news agency that they had to hurriedly leave their halls with a single clothe to meet the deadline. Even many left behind their important documents including passports in their hall rooms.
Many DU teachers also expressed their concern over the sufferings of the resident students.
Former president of Dhaka University Teachers' Association (DUTA) AAMS Arefin Siddique said the authorities should bring the sufferings and careers of the students into their consideration.
"It's true that most of the resident students are facing immense problems in continuing their part-time jobs. The university authorities should take steps to resolve the problems immediately," Arefin said.