Restoring DU's old fame as 'Oxford of the East'
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Pulok Debnath
IN earlier times, Dhaka University (DU) was treated as 'Oxford of the East' and of course, mainly the students of this university of that time proved to the evaluators that DU deserved that dignity. Though the advanced technology and the expertise of the modern academicians have added to this epoch, what do we find if we compare the present position of DU with the then condition of the University of Dhaka?
Once DU was considered Oxford of the East. The reasons behind this may be the fact that Oxford University had a great fame of creating the great leaders in the world-- DU was also famous for building up the leaders in the eastern region. The students, teachers and even the employees of the root level of this university played a great role to stand against the oppression on the common people of this broader area and they were successful in every area they worked in. One evidence of their heroic leadership is leading and motivating the fighters against the Pakistanis in the language movement of 1952 and in the independence war of 1971. Besides the graduates of the then University of Dhaka used to play a very significant role in the development of the wretched sectors of the country. In those days students with the first position in the first class or of the same level became the leaders of the university. And the common students and the people would follow them, honour and respect them because of their leadership quality and their knowledge of giving proper direction. There was no terrorism, vandalism, violence etc. in the campus. All the students were dedicated to their learning- enrichment and the teachers were also devoted to their teaching and preaching.
But at present what happens most of the time is that the students who are terrorists, known as 'arms-cadres' are found as the leaders of the university. There is an allegation that the graduates who have a very political support irrespective of the level of the result are also being recruited as the teachers. So what such teachers-students can create is easily comprehensible. In a report published in 'The Daily Prothom Alo' on April 19, 2009, it was found that among 6000 universities of the world, the position of DU is 4922 and its place is 44th among the south Asian universities. But time is being over to revert the persistent deteriorated condition of the then Oxford of the East.
Some steps should be taken in no time to ameliorate the overall condition of the university. In this regard the qualified candidates should be recruited as faculty members to ensure the quality teaching to the students. This teacher - recruitment should be free from being supported by the political leaders. The responsibility of teachers' appointment may be assigned to an independent body and another team can check the qualification of the recruited teachers to make sure the required capability of those appointed faculty members. To draw the attention of the brilliant candidates for the post of the teacher and to retain the extraordinary faculty members, a satisfactory remuneration package along with other amenities should be offered to them. The arrangement of tutorial hours for the students should be made certain so that students can meet the respective teachers to solve their problems. In this way the teachers' staying at the department up to a specified time should be ensured. The teachers may be required to get the approval from the respective authority when they like to work outside. Private universities and all other relevant institutes may be required to disclose the list of their part time and full time teachers and it can be matched to check the teachers who from this university work there. Another point is that some teachers go abroad for higher degree or other reasons on paid leave but many of them do not come back and do not join the university. In this case the university authority may cancel their appointment after the specific period if there are not valid reasons of their further staying abroad. Besides, the teachers' performance can also be evaluated on the basis of the feedbacks received from the students and this evaluation score may have an impact on the teachers' financial and other benefit obtained from the university.
The admission test procedure should be redesigned to select the qualified students. The question paper should be prepared in such a way so that the students cannot apply their memorised answers in the exam hall. In the real scenario, even in the admission test of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), DU and evening MBA under the business faculty of DU, sometimes questions from some selected books available in the market are given to assess the students' analytical, aptitude skills and so on. So many students learn the answers by heart beforehand and answer such questions in the examination hall correctly. The team who are assigned to prepare the questions of the admission test should make it in such a way that the applicants can resolve them through only their achieved knowledge.
Students should be adhered to a code of conduct and those who will violate it may be expelled from the university or be given exemplary punishment. The code of conduct may include not to be involved in terrorism, extortion, absence in the class for a particular period, preparing the report copying from other journal be it as a part or the theme will be treated dropped out from the particular course or semester. Class attendance may carry some points so that students get motivated to attend the classes regularly since there are still some courses or departments where students do not bother to attend the classes, as class attendance does not add any marks to their final result. More scholarships should be arranged for the deserving students by making liaison with the foreign universities and organisations as well as local organisations or foundations. The respective departments of DU can offer scholarship for the top scorers in the admission test- they can also offer scholarship for the outstanding performers in the 'O Levels' and 'A Levels' examinations who are finally selected for the admission at DU. In the O Level and A Level exams in the session, 2007-2008, 50 students got highest marks in the world and many other students got extraordinary results who were awarded by 'The Daily Star'. Due to the great initiative to award the exceptional students for the last 10 years, many students being encouraged are outperforming in the English medium schools. But I wonder if Dhaka University drew any attention of such brilliant students to take admission there, though some private universities offer full scholarship and other financial waiver for the English medium students having an outstanding result in the 'A Level' exam. Once I found the grief of an English medium student in a newspaper that he got the qualifying marks in the admission test of DU to study 'English' but the problem was that he did not have any English subject in his A Level exam, so the student could not get admitted into the department of English. If DU redesigns the admission test policy and the question paper of the admission test of considering the course curriculum of both Bangla and English medium schools, more English medium students will study at DU and there will be a positive impact on the study-environment of DU.
More research facilities, enrichment of the library including the on-line access to the foreign journals and articles should be ascertained. The number of seats or departments may be increased or decreased on the basis of the role of the particular department in the real life. A new department like 'Drug Addiction' may be established in the university. It is very unfortunate that many of the students are studying the courses what they do not like. But due to the limited seats, they are compelled to be there. So if the talented graduates from the respective department like 'Political Science' can be appointed as the advisors to the ministers of the government and to the various sectors of the government and the non-government organisations and the talented graduating students from the department of 'Psychology' can be appointed as psychologists in the hospitals, the students would be encouraged to pay more attention on their study of the courses which are less prioritized by the major part of the students.
To alleviate the hostel-seat problems, the students who have already passed out and also the outsiders should not be allowed to stay in the hostels. The hall authority should monitor it strictly so that only the valid students can avail the seat-facility in the dormitories. On-campus job facility can be created and offered for the students on the basis of their financial needs and merits. As a result, many students will get financial support and job experience that will help them mitigate the financial crisis to some extent and develop their career in the course of time.
The outsiders' access to the university campuses without any valid reason should be restricted. The visitor's identity cards should be issued to the persons who like to meet any staff and faculty members of the university during a specific time. The university may remain open for a particular period for the students and their parents or guardians to have an idea about the university and for other queries. Sufficient lighting should be in some specific places and close circuit cameras may be set to protect campus violence and other illegal activities. DU including all the educational institutions should be free from hartals which are called upon by the general students and the political parties so that the students can get rid of the session jam created due to the suspension of the classes and the exams.
If the aforementioned initiatives can be taken as soon as possible, the status of Dhaka University of being 'Oxford of the East' can be restored, at least to some extent.
The writer, a graduate of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), currently a banker and also a student of Evening MBA, Dhaka University may be contacted at ppulok91@hotmail.com
IN earlier times, Dhaka University (DU) was treated as 'Oxford of the East' and of course, mainly the students of this university of that time proved to the evaluators that DU deserved that dignity. Though the advanced technology and the expertise of the modern academicians have added to this epoch, what do we find if we compare the present position of DU with the then condition of the University of Dhaka?
Once DU was considered Oxford of the East. The reasons behind this may be the fact that Oxford University had a great fame of creating the great leaders in the world-- DU was also famous for building up the leaders in the eastern region. The students, teachers and even the employees of the root level of this university played a great role to stand against the oppression on the common people of this broader area and they were successful in every area they worked in. One evidence of their heroic leadership is leading and motivating the fighters against the Pakistanis in the language movement of 1952 and in the independence war of 1971. Besides the graduates of the then University of Dhaka used to play a very significant role in the development of the wretched sectors of the country. In those days students with the first position in the first class or of the same level became the leaders of the university. And the common students and the people would follow them, honour and respect them because of their leadership quality and their knowledge of giving proper direction. There was no terrorism, vandalism, violence etc. in the campus. All the students were dedicated to their learning- enrichment and the teachers were also devoted to their teaching and preaching.
But at present what happens most of the time is that the students who are terrorists, known as 'arms-cadres' are found as the leaders of the university. There is an allegation that the graduates who have a very political support irrespective of the level of the result are also being recruited as the teachers. So what such teachers-students can create is easily comprehensible. In a report published in 'The Daily Prothom Alo' on April 19, 2009, it was found that among 6000 universities of the world, the position of DU is 4922 and its place is 44th among the south Asian universities. But time is being over to revert the persistent deteriorated condition of the then Oxford of the East.
Some steps should be taken in no time to ameliorate the overall condition of the university. In this regard the qualified candidates should be recruited as faculty members to ensure the quality teaching to the students. This teacher - recruitment should be free from being supported by the political leaders. The responsibility of teachers' appointment may be assigned to an independent body and another team can check the qualification of the recruited teachers to make sure the required capability of those appointed faculty members. To draw the attention of the brilliant candidates for the post of the teacher and to retain the extraordinary faculty members, a satisfactory remuneration package along with other amenities should be offered to them. The arrangement of tutorial hours for the students should be made certain so that students can meet the respective teachers to solve their problems. In this way the teachers' staying at the department up to a specified time should be ensured. The teachers may be required to get the approval from the respective authority when they like to work outside. Private universities and all other relevant institutes may be required to disclose the list of their part time and full time teachers and it can be matched to check the teachers who from this university work there. Another point is that some teachers go abroad for higher degree or other reasons on paid leave but many of them do not come back and do not join the university. In this case the university authority may cancel their appointment after the specific period if there are not valid reasons of their further staying abroad. Besides, the teachers' performance can also be evaluated on the basis of the feedbacks received from the students and this evaluation score may have an impact on the teachers' financial and other benefit obtained from the university.
The admission test procedure should be redesigned to select the qualified students. The question paper should be prepared in such a way so that the students cannot apply their memorised answers in the exam hall. In the real scenario, even in the admission test of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), DU and evening MBA under the business faculty of DU, sometimes questions from some selected books available in the market are given to assess the students' analytical, aptitude skills and so on. So many students learn the answers by heart beforehand and answer such questions in the examination hall correctly. The team who are assigned to prepare the questions of the admission test should make it in such a way that the applicants can resolve them through only their achieved knowledge.
Students should be adhered to a code of conduct and those who will violate it may be expelled from the university or be given exemplary punishment. The code of conduct may include not to be involved in terrorism, extortion, absence in the class for a particular period, preparing the report copying from other journal be it as a part or the theme will be treated dropped out from the particular course or semester. Class attendance may carry some points so that students get motivated to attend the classes regularly since there are still some courses or departments where students do not bother to attend the classes, as class attendance does not add any marks to their final result. More scholarships should be arranged for the deserving students by making liaison with the foreign universities and organisations as well as local organisations or foundations. The respective departments of DU can offer scholarship for the top scorers in the admission test- they can also offer scholarship for the outstanding performers in the 'O Levels' and 'A Levels' examinations who are finally selected for the admission at DU. In the O Level and A Level exams in the session, 2007-2008, 50 students got highest marks in the world and many other students got extraordinary results who were awarded by 'The Daily Star'. Due to the great initiative to award the exceptional students for the last 10 years, many students being encouraged are outperforming in the English medium schools. But I wonder if Dhaka University drew any attention of such brilliant students to take admission there, though some private universities offer full scholarship and other financial waiver for the English medium students having an outstanding result in the 'A Level' exam. Once I found the grief of an English medium student in a newspaper that he got the qualifying marks in the admission test of DU to study 'English' but the problem was that he did not have any English subject in his A Level exam, so the student could not get admitted into the department of English. If DU redesigns the admission test policy and the question paper of the admission test of considering the course curriculum of both Bangla and English medium schools, more English medium students will study at DU and there will be a positive impact on the study-environment of DU.
More research facilities, enrichment of the library including the on-line access to the foreign journals and articles should be ascertained. The number of seats or departments may be increased or decreased on the basis of the role of the particular department in the real life. A new department like 'Drug Addiction' may be established in the university. It is very unfortunate that many of the students are studying the courses what they do not like. But due to the limited seats, they are compelled to be there. So if the talented graduates from the respective department like 'Political Science' can be appointed as the advisors to the ministers of the government and to the various sectors of the government and the non-government organisations and the talented graduating students from the department of 'Psychology' can be appointed as psychologists in the hospitals, the students would be encouraged to pay more attention on their study of the courses which are less prioritized by the major part of the students.
To alleviate the hostel-seat problems, the students who have already passed out and also the outsiders should not be allowed to stay in the hostels. The hall authority should monitor it strictly so that only the valid students can avail the seat-facility in the dormitories. On-campus job facility can be created and offered for the students on the basis of their financial needs and merits. As a result, many students will get financial support and job experience that will help them mitigate the financial crisis to some extent and develop their career in the course of time.
The outsiders' access to the university campuses without any valid reason should be restricted. The visitor's identity cards should be issued to the persons who like to meet any staff and faculty members of the university during a specific time. The university may remain open for a particular period for the students and their parents or guardians to have an idea about the university and for other queries. Sufficient lighting should be in some specific places and close circuit cameras may be set to protect campus violence and other illegal activities. DU including all the educational institutions should be free from hartals which are called upon by the general students and the political parties so that the students can get rid of the session jam created due to the suspension of the classes and the exams.
If the aforementioned initiatives can be taken as soon as possible, the status of Dhaka University of being 'Oxford of the East' can be restored, at least to some extent.
The writer, a graduate of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), currently a banker and also a student of Evening MBA, Dhaka University may be contacted at ppulok91@hotmail.com