The New Nation - Internet Edition

JU Correspondent

The Jahangirnagar University (JU) has plunged into multifarious problems hampering the quality of education of the university.

The university was established in 1970 with a view to providing the students with quality education. But the quality of education of the university could not be achieved due to the shortage of teachers, lack of modern equipment and mismanagement of the university.

Sources said that some departments introduced masters courses recently but only a few classes are held under them. It is alleged that the teachers take classes as though they are part time lecturers. Even they complete the courses hurriedly under short syllabuses. It also learnt that those who are the students of PhD are themselves the committee members of the Higher Education Committee of the university.

While visiting different departments of the university this correspondent found that some 98 teachers out of 370 are staying abroad with scholarship violating the rules and regulations of the university. It has also been found that very few of them came back to the university in due time. But the government spends more than TK. 1.58 crore for them every year.

On the other hand, every department takes addition money from the fresher each year in the name of development of the department but very little amount is spent for this purpose. Even, for lack of modern equipments, the quality of education is seriously hampered. Computer labs with Internet connection are very essential and demanded by time but a few departments have established them.

Another great problem of the university is acute seat crisis in the dormitories. It is learnt that 70 percent new comers are not getting seats in their allotted halls, though the university is known as a residential one. It is thought that this problem might be solved if another two dormitories were built immediately.

Besides, it is learnt from transport office that the university has only 10 buses including a minibus which are insufficient for 15 thousands inhabitants of the university. So, the authorities have to hire buses from outside to meet up the demand. It is also learnt that the university incurs a loss of about Tk. 2 crore and 40 lakh per year for the same. Expenditure in the transport sector is increasing day by day due to mismanagement also.

The university authorities have earned 2 crore and 10 lakh taka from sale of admission forms this year. This huge money will be divided among the teachers. The students of the university think that the authorities should increase the number of buses by sanctioning a part of this money for the greater interest of the university.

Another problem is that the central library cannot provide space for eight thousand students of the university. Only one hundred students can sit to study in the library at a time. Moreover, the library has only one lakh books and ten thousand research journals which are insufficient to meet the demand of 8,000 residential students and 370 teachers. This shortage of books and journals seriously hampers higher education of the university.

In answer to a question about the educational system of the university, Prof. Abu Saeed Khan, former dean of the science faculty, told this correspondent every department should introduce fundamental English language course with their respective courses to fulfill the demand of the time. He also told, "We should modernize our syllabus because without the knowledge of modern technology the students will cut sorry figures in the competitive exams".