DU
DUAA to celebrate centenary on March 12
Dhaka University Alumni Association (DUAA) is set to observe the centenary of Dhaka University on march 12.
The celebrations will include birth centenary of Bangabandhu, Golden Jubilee of Independence and the 'Centennial Reunion of the association.
The decision on the celebration was taken in a general meeting of DUAA held on the alumni floor of Nawab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate building on Sunday.
Also read: DU alumni centenary reunion prog deferred
According to the schedule, alumni and invited guests will enter the playground at 8:30 am. The inaugural function will begin at 10 am with the presentation of the national anthem, hoisting of the flag and recitation from the holy books. At 3:30 pm, 100 alumni of the university will be honoured and at 4:30 pm, a program titled 'Our Commitment to Alma Mater' will be organized.
A vibrant cultural program will also be held from 5:30 pm to 10 pm that day.
Also read: DUAA celebrates 71st founding anniversary
AK Azad, president of DUAA, presided over the meeting while other members of the DU were present.
The centenary celebration was scheduled to be held on January 14 and 15, which was postponed due to the coronavirus situation.
DU vice chancellor leads Probhat Feri on occasion of 21st February
Dhaka University arranged the traditionally significant 'Probhat Feri' (Morning Procession) rally maintaining the safety protocols considering the covid situation.
It started under the leadership of Akhtaruzzaman early in the morning at 6 o'clock in front of his residence.
The procession went to Azimpur cemetery via Nilkhet. The DU Vice-Chancellor laid floral wreaths on the graves of Shafiur Rahman, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar. After that, prayers were offered for all laid to rest in the graveyard.
After the munajat, they went to the central Shaheed Minar through Azimpur intersection, Palashi turn and Between the road of Salimullah Muslim Hall and Jagannath Hall.
READ: Corrupted VCs should be punished: DU VC
Around 8:30 in the morning, tributes were paid at the Shaheed Minar under the leadership of the DU Vice-Chancellor.
Dhaka University Teachers 'Association, Dhaka University Officers' Association and fourth class employees of Dhaka University participated in the procession.
It was attended by the President of the DU Teachers Association, Professor. Md. Rahmat Ullah, General Secretary Prof. Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan, University Registrar Prabir Kumar Sarkar and leaders and members of their respective organizations.
Latter, different organisations staged rally toward central Shahid Minar to pay homage to the language martyrs.
DU to reopen for honours students on Feb 22
Dhaka University (DU) will resume physical classes for all honours students from February 22, with all Covid-safety protocols in place.
The honours classes will be held according to the earlier schedule, the university said in a release on Saturday.
Besides, the exams will be held physically according to the schedule, and all university offices will also reopen.
READ: DU students demand end to bullying, harassment in guestrooms
DU student accuses a BCL activist of slapping him
Authorities at Dhaka University’s Sir A F Rahman Hall has ordered an investigation after a resident student alleged that he had badly slapped by another student of the hall.
Molla Taimur Rahman, student of Peace and Conflict department of 2020-21 session lodged an allegation to the hall provost against Rokonuzzam Rokon, a second year student of Political Science department also resident in AF Rahman hall. He is an activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League,
In the written complaint Molla Taimur alleged that the slap was so severe that he lost his hearing ability for a few hours.
Rokan allegedly confronted him as he was seen talking to a senior at Haji Muhammad Mohsin playground on February 15.
READ: Another DU student chooses the dark path of suicide
"He later threatened to kick me out of the hall and kill me if I informed the hall administration,” Rokan told me.
Molla said he got scared and left the hall and took shelter at his brother’s house.
Asked about the allegation, AF Rahman hall provost Prof. Saiful Khan said, "we have got a written allegation today and a two-members investigation team has been formed to find out the fact.”
The committee comprising DU teacers Farooq Shah and Dr Mumit Al Rashid has been asked to the report in two days.
READ: DU students demand end to bullying, harassment in guestrooms
Two house tutors of Sir AF Rahman hall have been given the responsibility of the investigation. They are: Farooq Shah and Dr. Mumit Al Rashid.
The AF Rahman hall committee of BCL said it will cooperate with the probe.
DU not to scrap 'Gha' unit admission exams
In a major relief for hundreds of students, Dhaka University has decided not to scrap the 'Gha' unit entrance exams for the 2021-22 academic session.
The decision was made at a meeting of the dean's committee of the prestigious varsity on Wednesday.
Prof Zia Rahman, the dean of the social sciences faculty, said, "We have decided to keep the 'Gha' unit admission exams this year, considering the demands of both students and their guardians."
READ: DU to resume physical classes from Feb 22
The 'Gha' unit admission tests give students an opportunity to change stream at enrolment.
Asked if the exams could be scrapped in the future, Prof Zia remained evasive. "The 'gha' unit entry exams for this academic session was on the agenda of our meeting."
DU to resume physical classes from Feb 22
Dhaka University has decided to resume physical classes for first-year honours students from February 22.
"The classes will resume following the previous schedule," the university said in a statement Friday. Besides, all pre-scheduled exams will be held physically.
DU vice-chancellor Prof Akhtaruzzaman said, "The physical classes will be held following all Covid-safety protocols. Similarly, pre-scheduled exams will be held."
Also read: Another DU student chooses the dark path of suicide
The university will take a call on the resumption of physical classes for other students after taking stock of the Covid situation in Bangladesh, he added.
Earlier, on February 6, the university extended its online classes till February 21 amid a surge in Covid cases following a government notification.
Also read: DU goes for reducing seats for first-year undergraduate students
Row over proposed move to scrap DU's 'D' unit exams
A proposed move to scrap the 'D' unit exams of Dhaka University has not gone down well with the prestigious varsity's social sciences faculty.
The faculty members claim that they were not consulted by the higher authorities of the university on such an important matter.
According to Prof Sadeka Halim of the faculty, the Vice-Chancellor and heads of other faculties briefly discussed the issue at a deans' committee meeting in 2020.
"I don't know when discussions turned into a decision. I don't even know when the decision was taken," said the professor who had attended the meeting.
Following the 2020 meeting, Prof Sadeka, who was the then social sciences dean, held a virtual meeting with teachers of all the 16 departments of the faculty and opposed any move to cancel the exams.
Also read: DU extends online class activities till February 21
"Now, suddenly a notification was issued after the meeting of the general admission committee of the university on Monday, which means there will be no 'D' unit from the next academic session," she said.
However, V-C Professor Akhtaruzzaman denied the claim. "The decision to cancel the 'D' unit exams was taken following the due process," he said.
University documents obtained by UNB, also reveal that after the meeting of the deans' committee on 8 November, 2020, the the admissions committee subsequently recommended the cancellation of the 'D' unit exams.
Later, at the meeting of the Academic Council on 16 August 2021, it was decided to cancel the 'D' unit exams altogether.
Also read: 7 DU colleges & 3 universities to hold exams
But Prof Sadeka said, “There was no talk on the abolition of the 'D' unit exams at the Academic Council meeting. Teachers from different departments of our faculty were present at the Academic Council meeting."
Prof MM Akash, chairman of the economics department, corroborated. "Earlier, a meeting was held between the dean of the social sciences faculty and the heads of the departments, where it was decided not to scrap the exams.
Prof Sadeka said she could not move the court of law "if necessary" to keep the 'D' unit.
"The abolition of the 'D' unit exams will reduce the opportunities for higher education of humanities and commerce students", the head of the communication disorders department, Tauhida Jahan, said.
Prof Tanzim Uddin Khan of the department of international relations, said, “The decision was taken in an undemocratic way. The views of the stakeholders were not taken into account."
Khorshed Alam, an associate professor of the department of mass communication and journalism, wrote on Facebook: "Only once now! The next d unit is not gone! So how do you do all this cool stuff?"
Students of the social sciences faculty have already embarked on a protest against the decision to cancel the 'D' unit exams.
Asked, the Vice-Chancellor (education) of the university, Prof ASM Maqsood Kama, said that even "if the 'D' unit exams are scrapped, there will be an opportunity for the students to change their departments".
Another DU student chooses the dark path of suicide
Another student of Dhaka University allegedly killed himself early Monday at his own home at Madhupur upazila in Tangail.
The deceased was Pritom Kumar Singho Akash, a student of department of ceramics of DU's Fine Arts faculty of 2016-17 session.
One of his friends, quoting family members, told UNB that around 1am on Monday, hearing what sounded like moaning from his room, they went to check on Pritom but he ousted them and locked the room from inside.
As his condition worsened he eventually told his family that he had gulped down some rat poison, according to the friend who didn't want to disclose his name.
Later, he was taken to the Upazila general hospital. After receiving primary treatment there, he was referred to Mymensingh Medical college at around 3am, according to his family.
It was on the way to Mymensingh that all the life in him gave away, and he breathed his last.
Pritom's death adds to the alarming trend of suicides spiking alarmigly among tertiary students during the Covid-19 pandemic, as revealed in a recent report by the non-profit Aachol Foundation.
According to Aachol, at least 101 students at tertiary level died by suicide last year, while the number was 79 in 2020.
In order to put those numbers in their proper context, compare them with the corresponding numbers from the years prior to the pandemic: just 11 tertiary-level students died by suicide in 2018, and 19 in 2017 (no reliable figure exists for 2019, Aachol said). The steepness of the climb during the Covid years makes it difficult to escape the conclusion that the pandemic did have some effect on these students.
The highest number of suicides were recorded among Dhaka University students, who accounted for nine students while Jagannath University and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology had recorded six suicide cases each, the report added.
READ: DU students demand end to bullying, harassment in guestrooms
Pritom was buried at the graveyard of his village and the reason for his death could not be confirmed by any official sources.
"Being depressed after the marriage of his lover, he committed suicide," one Abdullah Ratul wrote on Pritom's Facebook timeline.
On the other hand, Tanmoy Mondol, another friend, wrote that: we talked with his family and neighbors, he he did not commit suicide for the marriage of his loved one. He had been in depression since few days."
DU proctor prof. AKM Golam Rabbani said, "We contacted Pritom's family members. There might have been love affair related reasons behind this."
READ: Made to stare at a bright light by seniors, DU student passes out
Officer-in-charge of Madhupur police station said, "His family didn't inform us about the death. We got to know about it after the burial."
Action will be taken If the family members file any complaint, he added.
DU goes for reducing seats for first-year undergraduate students
The Dhaka University on Monday decided to cut down the seats for undergraduate first-year students from 2021-22 academic session, authorities said.
The tests for D Unit will also be abolished from the next academic session as part of the university’s plan to reschedule the number of seats.
The decisions were taken at a special meeting of the General Admissions Committee held at Nawab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate building.
Also read: DU extends online class activities till February 21
The decisions came considering the national and international requirements as wells as capacity and capability of Dhaka University.
DU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Md. Akhtaruzzaman presided over the meeting attended also by Pro VC (Administration) Prof. Muhammad Samad, Pro VC (Education) Prof. ASM Maqsood Kamal, Treasurer Prof. Mumtaz Uddin Ahmed, faculty deans, chairpersons and director of different institutes.
At a meeting on January 14 the Deans Committee recommended reduction of over 1,000 seats in a move aimed at optimum utilisation of the manpower of the country’s largest university and improve quality of education.
Dr. Samad said, "We have decided not to keep the D unit anymore. Today's meeting approved the decision but It will be finalized at the next Academic Council meeting.”
Also read: 7 DU colleges & 3 universities to hold exams
DU extends online class activities till February 21
The Dhaka University authority has extended its online class activities till February 21 following the notification of the Education Ministry.Earlier, on January 23, DU went to the online class from offline class till February 6 due to the rise of coronavirus cases across the country."We have to abide by the laws and regulations of the country as an Institute of this country," said DU VC prof Akhtaruzzaman said.
Read: 7 DU colleges & 3 universities to hold exams"Regular Classes will be hold on online platform but respective departments can take in-person exams and lab classes will be continued physically," he added.He also said that all the dormitories will remain open for students maintaining the Safety rules.Ongoing examinations for honor's fourth year and Masters will be continued maintaining health rules and the offices will run in a limited range from 9 am to 1 pm.END/UNB/Corr/SIS/ssk/0035