Futures delayed indefinitely

We sympathise with and echo the frustration of the students of seven Dhaka University-affiliated colleges whose futures have been delayed indefinitely due to the pandemic and the failure of the authorities to take timely measures to address their longstanding concerns. Session jams have plagued the students of these colleges for a long time now, and the pandemic has thrown an already chaotic and mismanaged system into further turmoil. For instance, after years of delay due to session jams, the final examinations of Master's students were finally supposed to be conducted in March, but they were postponed midway due to the virus. Despite repeated appeals to the authorities, the students did not receive a definitive answer as to how and when their exams will be completed and their results disbursed. As a result, most of them have been unable to find jobs and are living in uncertainty and anxiety.

While we understand that the sudden onset of Covid-19 took the authorities by surprise, what we do not comprehend is why they did not come up with a contingency plan early on to minimise the damage to students' lives and careers. When contacted by desperate students, teachers and administrators of these seven colleges said that it was up to Dhaka University authorities to make the decisions. Unfortunately, the latter, despite promises that affiliation with the institution would ease the suffering of students by putting an end to mismanagement and sessions, have paid little attention to these students, and consistently failed to allay their concerns. Frustrations have shadowed the students shattering all hopes that affiliation with DU would change their lives for the better.

Following protests from students, principals of the seven colleges have announced that they would start taking the postponed exams from January 20—that three sessions' final exams, which had been postponed in March, will be resumed on a priority basis, and the remaining four sessions' exams, scheduled to be held in July this year, will now be held using the OMR (Optical Mark Reading) method. But simply holding the exams at this point is not enough. The authorities, particularly DU, must ensure that the results are published within 90 days and effective and immediate steps are taken to address session jams in these colleges.

The students have lost too many years of their lives as well as resources due to the long-drawn-out affiliation process. They deserve better from the authorities.