Education
Brac University's 15th convocation held
The 15th convocation of Brac University was held Monday at the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center in the capital.
A total of 4,889 students received degrees while 31 gold medals were awarded in various categories.
Education Minister Dipu Moni presented the chancellor's gold medals. Professor Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, pro-vice-chancellor and acting vice-chancellor of Brac University, presented the vice-chancellor's gold medals.
Omar Ishrak, former chairman and CEO of Medtronics, was the convocation speaker.
Dipu Moni said: "We want our students to take the lead in knowledge creation, be progressive in thinking, inspired by honesty, humanity and patriotism, healthy in body and mind and energetic in action."
"Since its establishment in 2001, Brac University has been producing competent graduates by imparting quality education," she added.
Tamara Hasan Abed, chair of Brac University's board of trustees, said: "By exercising Brac University's teachings on empathy, graduates can switch on the light of hope for others."
She also added that the graduates will take many journeys and reach many destinations over the next 50 years taking Bangladesh to the forefront.
Mahfuzul, acting vice-chancellor of Brac University, said: "As a forward-looking institution, Brac University aims to help students develop empathy, creativity and entrepreneurship so that they can thrive despite significant social changes and grow as future leaders."
"This will go a long way to help fulfil the mission of the present and future governments, businesses and social enterprises."
Omar urged the graduates to develop a sense of purpose and a vision of how they all could make a difference.
"This is the right time to think about it and drive priorities. Having long-term goals makes a difference and graduates should achieve purpose in life, remain committed to lifelong learning, stay informed and adapt to challenges," he added.
22 universities to be part of uniform entrance test for 2022-2023 academic session
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced that 22 universities in the country will join the uniform entrance test for university admission in the 2022-2023 academic session.
Quoting Prof. Mohammad Alamgir, UGC member and convenor of the uniform admission test committee, a media release said a uniform admission test will be organized in all the universities of the country that are part of the process for the next (2023-2024) academic session.
Also Read: Islamic University won't join combined admission test system
The commission directed the universities to take the test and complete the admission process promptly, reads the release. Authorities of the universities were advised to make the admission test process easy and student-friendly, it said.
The decision was made in a meeting at the UGC on Monday.
Prof. Kazi Shahidullah, Chairman of UGC, said there are some challenges, but there’s no scope to opt out of this system.
Islamic University won't join combined admission test system
The authorities of Islamic University in Kushtia on Sunday decided not to join the combined admission test system for the 2022-23 academic session.
The decision was made at the 125th academic council meeting of the university with its vice-chancellor Shaikh Abdus Salam in the chair.
IU acting registrar HM Ali Hasan told UNB that the university authorities would conduct its own entry test for the students as per its previous system.
"Most of the departments opposed holding the admission test under the unified admission test system and that’s why we aren’t joining it," he said.
IU VC Shaikh Salam would inform the decision to the University Grants Commission at its meeting scheduled to be held on Monday and final decision would be taken then, he added.
Among others, IU pro vice-chancellor Professor M Mahbubur Rahman, treasurer Professor M Alamgir Hossain Bhuiya, acting registrar HM Ali Hasan, chairmen and deans of different faculties were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, a group of students of the university staged a demonstration on the campus in Kushtia on Sunday morning demanding to hold the admission test under its own process.
Around 50 students from different departments formed a human chain in front of the university’s Mrittunjoyee Mujib Mural to press home their demand.
Earlier, the Islamic University Teachers’ Association on February 12 decided not to join the cluster intake test process as it would create complexity, deferment and lack of combination instead of reducing the hassle of admission seekers.
The association submitted a written statement to the university administration regarding the matter.
IUTA president Professor M Jahangir Hossain said that the cluster admission process failed to meet its target of reducing hassles and sufferings of the admission seekers and their guardians as well.
BUP's Team Sirius scoops up AdventHR Season 2 title
Team Sirius from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) Saturday clinched the title of the AdventHR 2.0, an HR strategy-based case competition.
The champions were followed by Team Scrutinizer from Dhaka University and Team Lamestream from the Islamic University of Technology (IUT).
These three teams of the final round shared a prize pool of Tk100,000.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and other forms of automation have become more advanced, they are increasingly able to replace human workers in a variety of roles. This creates a challenge for human resource (HR) managers to manage the workforce and ensure that their needs are met while also using the power of AI.
To face these challenges and explore more about AI and its effect in the HR world, BUP Human Resource and Leadership Club hosted the second season of its flagship event AdventHR.
The grand finale of the competition took place at BUP's Bijoy Auditorium.
Protest against Chhatra League's sexual abuse, harassment of women held at Shahbagh
Activists and leaders from different women's rights organisations on Sunday protested against frequent torture and harassment, often sexual, by members of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the ruling party's student front.
The protest was held in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh around 4.45 pm, and joined by the activists and leaders of different left leaning organisations too.
The participants demanded justice for previous incidents perpetrated by BCL activists and leaders and also called on women to stand boldly against all forms of harassment.
They demanded to form anti-female harassment cells in every campus centrally and at department level, to not restrict the movement of female students on campuses and not to fix the time for returning to halls for the female students at night.
Mentioning the recent incidents at Islamic University, Badrunnessa Govt. Women college, Eden Mohila College and other universities, Biplobi Chhatra Federation president Mitu Sarkar, said, "The incidents of abusing women in the educational institutions especially in the public universities by Chhatra League has become a common thing. They are not only abusing girls verbally but also abusing them physically and sexually."
"Female students are even being abused by female leaders and activists of BCL in the campuses," she added.
General secretary of Biplobi Nari Forum, Amina Khatun said, "Today we are standing here to gain our rights. The name Chhatra League has turned synonymous with rape and abuse. I have two daughters, I'm worried about their safety."
"Our prime minister is a woman. In spite of having a woman prime minister, we are not safe under her leadership. Our demand to prime minister is that she take measures to prevent sexual abuse of females and ensure our safety by expelling the criminals from the organisation, " Amina furthermore said.
Jannatul <awa from Bangladesh Sammobadi Andolon, lawyer Sadia Ahmed, and students from different universities also joined the protest.
They also protested BCL harassment through songs, poems and displaying news articles about rape, harassment and sexual abuse.
7 Chhatra League activists expelled for torturing students at CMC
Chittagong Medical College (CMC) has expelled seven activists associated with ruling party's student front Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) found guilty of torturing four students in their hostel.
The decision was taken as several allegations, besides that of torturing students and perpetrating violence in the dormitory, against them proved to be true, CMC Principal Professor Shahena Akter said Thursday night.
"The decision was taken at the academic council meeting of CMC in the evening," she added.
The expelled students are Abhijit Das and Md Riazul Islam Chowdhury of the 59th MBBS batch; Saju Dash, Sourav Debnath, Mahin Ahmed, Zakir Hossain Sayel, and Md Ibrahim Khalil Shakib of the 62nd batch.
One of them was expelled for three years, three for two years and the remaining three for one and a half years.
The academic council meeting also decided to install close circuit cameras at the main gate of CMC and appoint several hostel superintendents instead of one.
On February 8, four students were confined in a room at the hostel from midnight to evening on unfounded suspicions that they were activists of the Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Two students were admitted to its CMCH ICU after they along with two others were tortured.
Later, CMC formed a committee to probe into the allegations of torture of the students.
Survey shows devastating impact of digital divide on children’s learning in Bangladesh during COVID-19
Fewer than one in five children (18.7 per cent) in Bangladesh participated in remote learning during COVID-19 school closures, which at one and a half years were among the longest pandemic school closures in the world, said UNICEF on Thursday.
This extraordinary scale of the impact of school closures was confirmed today in the National Survey on Children’s Education in Bangladesh 2021, a joint survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and UNICEF.
The survey shows that the hardest hit are the most vulnerable children who have limited access to the Internet and TV, and who lack supportive devices such as computers or smartphones at home.
Fewer children from rural areas (15.9 per cent) participated in remote learning, such as online and televised, compared to those from urban areas (28.7 per cent).
Significant geographical disparities also come to the fore with the highest percentage of students remotely participating in classes in Khulna and Dhaka (23.4 per cent and 23.1 per cent respectively), and the lowest in Mymensingh (5.7 per cent).
The youngest children carry the heaviest burden as participation in remote classes was lower among primary school children (13.1 per cent) compared to secondary students (20.3 per cent in lower secondary and 23.7 per cent in upper secondary).
“The pandemic’s impact on children is still reverberating throughout the country. It is critical to close the digital divide and to make the education system more shock responsive,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh.
UNICEF provides technical assistance to the Government in support of learning recovery and acceleration, including on innovative remedial education.
“The Survey on Children’s Education in Bangladesh 2021 would help to understand the extent of the impact of the prolonged school closure during COVID-19 pandemic on attendances, out-of-school, drop-out, and learning loss of children, along with other education outcomes and support the Government to take steps for improving the quality and standard of education,” said Mohammad Abdul Mannan MP, Minister, Ministry of Planning.
The survey also includes preliminary post-pandemic data on child marriage.
The survey indicates a downward trend, giving cause for cautious optimism.
According to the Bangladesh 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) – the country’s largest-scale and most authoritative survey on the situation of children – 51.4 per cent of girls are married before turning 18.
The next MICS, set to be conducted in 2024, will confirm if the positive downward trend for child marriage indicated in the National Survey on Children’s Education in Bangladesh 2021 is sustained.
University admission through single test from next year: Dipu Moni
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni said on Wednesday that students will be enrolled in universities through creating a national merit list after holding one admission test from the next year.
She told this to reporters after inaugurating a ‘Science Fair’ of the National University at Daulatpur College in Kushtia on Wednesday.
Acknowledging some problems and limitations in the cluster system of the university admission test in 2022-2023 sessions, the minister said the problems will be addressed in future.
Cluster method admission test was introduced in 2021-22 academic year after bringing 32 public universities under it to enroll students on the basis of a merit list.
Replying to a question about ragging at the educational institutions, Dipu Moni said it as a social menace and coordinated effort is needed to prevent it.
She also sought cooperation from the media to address the social problem.
Local lawmaker Advocate AKM Sarwar Jahan Badshah and NU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mashiur Rahman, among others, attended the event.
A total of 18 science colleges participated in the fair this year.
IU lodges case against outsiders; one arrested
The authorities of Islamic University in Kushtia on Tuesday lodged a case against outsiders with Shailkupa police station over assaulting two of its students.
The authorities of the university also issued an order prohibiting the movement of outsiders on the campus without any permission of the university authorities.
Police, however, arrested an outsider for his alleged involvement in assaulting the students, the police officials said.
Shailkupa police station officer-in-charge Aminul Islam told UNB that the university's acting registrar HM Ali Hasan filed the case against two named and 20 to 25 unnamed persons with the police station early Tuesday.
On a drive, a team of police conducted a drive in the upazila and arrested Jahangir Hossain alias Jhantu in the case.
Police were trying to arrest the other accused and involved in the incident, the OC added.
"IU is only open to its students. Outsiders cannot stay, roam around and do any activities on the campus without the permission of the proctor or authorities concerned," IU proctor Professor M Shahadat Hossain Azad said.
If they do not comply with the notice, the authorities will take steps against them, he added.
Earlier, Mehedi Hasan of management department and Jahid of finance and banking department under 2018-19 academic sessions locked into an altercation with the outsiders over capturing videos of their female classmates of the students at IU Lake area.
Mehedi and Jahid were allegedly assaulted by the outsiders at Sheikhpara Bazar adjacent to the campus on Monday evening over the issue. That left the students critically injured on the spot.
Local people rescued the students and took them to IU central hospital for treatment where the attending doctor referred them to Kushtia General Hospital for better treatment, the hospital’s office assistant Khandokar Naimul Reza said.
A group of fellow students went to the university’s main entrance and blockaded the Kushtia-Jhenaidah Highway demanding immediate arrest of the outsiders and restriction for campus entry of the outsiders.
No vehicles were allowed to move on the highway during the blockade, causing immense suffering for the passengers from faraway districts.
A team of Kushtia highway police and IU proctorial body led by proctor Professor M Shahadat Hossain Azad went to the spot to bring the situation under control but failed.
The students, at one stage, went to the IU VC’s bungalow and threw bricks at its collapsible gate to press home their demand.
The students later withdrew their demonstration on the campus at around 11:00pm as the university authorities and Kushtia additional superintendent of police (special branch) Farhad Hossain assured them of looking into the matter.
Class VI, VII students don’t need tests or model tests: DSHE
Department of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has asked schools not to hold the conventional test or model test for the students of class VI and VII as per the new curriculum.
The DSHE issued a circular in this regard on Monday.
According to the circular, the students of class VI and VII have to complete the learning-teaching and evaluation as per the new curriculum and the ‘Teacher Guide’ provided by the National Curriculum and Teachers board (NCTB).
Also read: NCTB gives corrections for 9 mistakes in 3 textbooks of new curriculum
Besides, the guidelines by the NCTB about evaluation process will be informed to later, it said.
It also asked the teachers, headmasters, Upazila/thana academic supervisors, Secondary Education Officers, Regional Deputy Directors and District Education Officers and regional directors to strengthen their monitoring.