Want of dorms affects education
An acute accommodation crisis persists at all the public universities of the country for want of requisite number of halls of residence, hampering education at these highest seats of studies.
Majority students studying at the public universities find it hard to obtain proper education as they are compelled to reside outside the campuses for lack of dormitories.
Vice-chancellors of some public universities, while talking to daily sun, said that they cannot provide residential facilities to all of their students due to financial constraints.
Severe session jam is another reason for accommodation crisis in most of the public universities, they pointed out, as residents of halls have to stay longer than they are supposed to.
Against this backdrop, they called on the government to pay due attention to the universities and create proper environment for the students to pursue higher studies.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) echoes the view, but said public universities should increase their income for building new dormitories to ease the accommodation crisis.
The Annual Report 2010 of the UGC placed recently in parliament shows that every public university of the country is facing severe accommodation crisis.
The most frustrating part of the report is that Jahangirnagar University, the only residential institution for higher studies, provides accommodation facility to only 53 per cent of the students.
Although the university is supposed to provide cent percent accommodation facility, it is failing to do so, the UGC report said.
It also mentioned that Jagannath University has no dormitory at all although it has 22,877 students.
As per the report, Dhaka University provides residential facility to 52 percent students, Rajshahi University to 33 percent, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to 38 percent, Chittagong University to 23 percent, Islamic University to 25 per cent, Comilla University to 28 per cent, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) to 21 per cent and Khulna University provides the facility to 29 per cent.
Dhaka University VC Prof. AAMS Arefin Siddique told daily sun that the university did not see any development work for the last few years due to severe residential crisis.
He said that two dormitories being constructed might be ready for the students this year while extension work of Ekushey Hall and Fazilatunnisa Mujib Hall is going on.
The VC further said construction work on two residential buildings for the teachers and employees of the university is also going on.
“I hope that completion of the construction work will lessen residential crisis facing the university,” he added.
Newly elected VC of Jahangirnagar University Prof. Anwar Hossain said it was frustrating that the university is facing acute accommodation problem as it is supposed to have no such crisis.
“As a residential university, Jahangirnagar University needs special focus from the authorities concerned of the government to resolve accommodation problem,” he said.
Severe session jam has intensified the residential crisis at the university, the VC observed.
He said construction a dormitory for the female students is going on while tender for another female hall has already been completed and tender work of another female hall will be completed soon.
He also said that they have planned to construct a new dormitory for the male students.
Comilla University’s VC Prof. Amir Hossain said the university is facing acute residential crisis. Many teachers and students have to stay either in Comilla city or in rented houses near the campus.
“We placed demand with the authorities concerned for constructing residential buildings for the students and teachers. I hope the crisis will go soon,” the VC said.
UGC Chairman Prof. AK Azad Chowdhury told daily sun that residential facility is badly needed at the public universities to ensure proper academic life of the students.
He also regretted that Jahangirnagar University, despite being a residential one, cannot provide residential facility for all its students. “At least this university should have no accommodation crisis,” he added. The UGC chairman said the public universities could not look to easing the accommodation crisis mainly due to poor budgetary allocation for the education sector.
Inadequate budgetary allocation for the education sector in the national budget is mainly blamed for the residential crisis at the public universities.
“Due to poor budgetary allocation, the public universities are failing to provide necessary facilities for the students. Budgetary allocation for higher education should be increased,” he said.
The UGC chairman also suggested that the authorities of all the public universities increase their own sources of income to get rid of the financial crisis.
-With Daily Sun input
