A long session jam continues to affect almost all courses, adding to the owes of students at the National University although the university was set up to save students the hassles of session jam.
Students cannot complete any course on time as many of the courses have session jam up to three years.
Officials said that mismanagement at the university was what caused the the session jam and the authorities did not have any effective measures to resolve the matter.
Ahsanul Bashar, who did his graduation from a city college under the university told, New Age that it took six years for him to complete his four-year graduation course.
‘Students begin their academic life in the National University with session jam. No one can complete courses in time. The session jam is wasting our time,’ he said.
When the National University was set up in 1992, it was said that it would help to get rid of the session jam and would end student sufferings but it has not been able to do so since its establishment.
Teachers, students and officials of the National University said that the session jam in the university was quite unusual.
They said that universities normally have session jam as they remain closed because of campus violence or because of something else but the National University, which is an affiliating institution, does not have any campus activities.
They said that it was the mismanagement of the university which was responsible for the session jam.
They said that delay in the publication of results and delay in the admission process were mainly contributing to the session jam.
According to students and officials, the university has failed to publish the results of the bachelor of business administration and computer science courses even 13 months after the examinations. Delay in the publication of results is happening in most of the courses, an official said.
Students who are mainly from low- and middle-income groups suffer most because of the session jam. Students said that although they were supposed to complete their graduation in fours, they needed six to seven years for this.
‘It just increases our cost of education. Many of us live in Dhaka in rented houses and depend on tuition for livings. Session jam makes our life unbearable,’ said Shafikul Islam, a student of Mirpur Bangla College in Dhaka.
‘As we are from low- and middle-income groups, our families expect that we would complete our study as soon as possible and get jobs. But the National University does not allow us to do so,’ said Shamsul Alam, a student of Titumir College.
‘The National University is not only causing suffering to us but also to our families,’ he added.
The pro-vice chancellor of the university, Tofail Ahmed Chowdhury, said that there were some reasons for the session jam in the National University.
‘In some cases, we are not responsible for the session jam but it is also true that the university also has some negligence that is contributing to the session jam,’ he said.
He said that the admission process at the National University was done after the admission process of other universities. ‘This is also responsible for the session jam,’ he said.
He added that sometimes delay of in the BG Press in printing question papers had also resulted in delay in the examinations, which added to the session jam.
Tofail, however, said that the university was trying hard to avoid session jam and end sufferings of the students.
‘We have taken many measures in recent times to avoid session jam,’ he added.
-With New Age input
