Sad stories from NU

The National University hurries on to hold yet another haphazardly arranged examination from January 24, refusing to look into some seemingly realistic problems and reasonable pleas of the Honours Final examinees of 1998. Hundreds of students from different city colleges thronged the NU campus in Gazipur on December 26 and demanded that the January 24 examination be deferred. They were alleging irregularities, hassle and mismanagement done both by the NU and their colleges. Students, laying siege to the office of the NU pro vice-chancellor, said their colleges were way behind schedule in completing the courses for which they would be tested in the examinations. They alleged that most of the colleges could hardly finish 50-60 per cent of the Part-III course. Moreover, knowing the intention of the NU, colleges also were also not taking any step to help students finish the courses on an emergency basis. For the yearly courses, it is customary that the colleges should complete the courses within six months and give the students a three-month space to prepare before they write their final examinations. Responding to the agitating students, the NU authorities assured them of rescheduling the examination, possibly sometime in March. But then, four days later, the university announced on December 30 that the Part-III examination would start on January 24 and run up to March 3. The announcement came in a low-circulation Bangla newspaper. Meantime, the NU and the carefree colleges went off to long Eid vacation, forgetting that they had one important business to do. About 100,000 students haven't received their admit cards as yet. "Nothing goes right in our schools, colleges and universities. I have seen it for years," said one angry parent, who came with his helpless daughter to the NU campus in Gazipur. Indeed, thousands of students across the country were caught off guard. "Once more they have been left to suffer this year because of the authorities' indifference," said the parent, speaking on condition of anonymity. The NU would not open until January 18, only six days before the examination starts. "Our nerves will be tested till then. But who cares," fumed a student yesterday. Very recently, the BA (pass) examinees went through a similar trial. Students were seen scrambling for their admit cards in city colleges even the day before they were to sit for their examinations. While university officials privately admit their mismanagement, nothing has changed. "It was the same story when Dhaka and other universities used to administer the examinations. The National University, the very purpose of which was to straighten out the messy affair, hasn't changed anything," said one NU official. Senior NU officials, available, would not say anything. After repeated attempts, the vice-chancellor and the controller of examinations could not be reached for comment. In most colleges, student counseling doesn't simply exist. "There aren't many teachers around to ask for assistance," said a frustrated examinee from the Eden College to The Daily Star. "Those of us going to a NU-affiliated college are faced with peculiar circumstances. We are taught mostly by guest teachers from either Dhaka or Jahangirnagar University who wouldn't care if the courses are done in time or not," said a Lalmatia College student. One can imagine that things are far worse in colleges outside the capital. "In most cases, the whole process is just a farce. You're a good teacher if you allow the students to resort to whatever means needed to pass the examinations. Whether a teacher is regular in his/her classes is immaterial," said a government college teacher from Comilla. "I have seen it everywhere outside Dhaka." This may have spared the non-Dhaka college students of the nerve tests, but those from the capital pay the price. Even in better-known government colleges such as Eden College, younger teachers speak of a pathetic lack of coordination between the NU and the affiliated institutions. "NU never bothers to know how things are going in colleges. Colleges do not care to finish the courses on time since there's no pressure on them," adds the Eden teacher. Then again, the students are paying more in fees, often for non-academic purposes. A Lalmatia College student alleged that each had to pay nearly Tk 14000 for the Part-III Honours course, which included only Taka 650 for examination fees. The "college fund" gobbles up the rest. A student pays again the similar sums if she has to get re-admitted for some reason, often for the authorities' mismanagement. Sad stories abound. One English Literature student, who hit the top position in the first two years of her Honours course among all students in Bangladesh, was ironically placed in the third class. She cannot run the risk of going through the process of correction as the results came barely two weeks ago. She is confident of getting it all corrected if a proper review is done, but does not have the confidence in the system. "If for some reason I don't get it right, I miss another year!" said the hapless girl, sobbing as her family shares her trauma. Another, who made second all through, is in the dark if she has passed at all. If both have to sit again, they face a new syllabus. But their teacher, Professor Guljar Begum, is in the dark too. Reached by phone last night, she said she had no knowledge of such irregularities nor did she receive any complaints. "I am new to this college," said the head of English at Eden College who took over in January last year. As mismanagement becomes the norm, one only looks back at the story behind the NU's birth. "The NU itself was born in haste," recalls an education ministry official, referring to its ways of doing its sole business -- administration of examinations.