When it comes to life in a post-Covid era, what university students in Bangladesh worry about most is their future job prospects. This is what is taking a toll on their mental health. This inference can be drawn from a study conducted by Md Jamal Uddin, a teacher of the statistics faculty of Shajalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), and his three students -- Upama Chowdhury, Md Ahosan Habib Suvro and Syed Md Farhan. The study was conducted from October 2020 to February 2021 through an online survey at 62 universities across the country. Respondents were asked if they were really worried about getting a job in the future and whether that was taking a toll on their mental health. Also read:SUST to resume classes online from Tuesday A total of 516 students participated in the survey, the results of which have been published in an international journal. According to the study, 80 percent of the respondents reported having depression and 70 percent complained of stress. Of them, female students seemed to be the most depressed ones as compared to their male peers. Among 516 participants, 380 (73.6%) were males and 136 (26.4%) females. While 414 (80.2%) participants had mild to severe depression, 399 (77.3%) reported having low to moderately perceived stress. Female students were 2.1 (95%) times more depressed and 3.6 (95%) times more stressed than their male counterparts, according to the study. Students, who thought that delaying graduation due to the Covid-19 pandemic would reduce their chances of getting a job, were 1.72 (95%) times more depressed. Also read: SUST students suspend movement after meeting with ministers Respondents, whose department offered internships were 36 percent less depressed, while skilled students were 46 percent less stressed though it was not statistically significant, the study pointed out. The study also suggested that universities can provide mental health programmes and strive to have enough space for students to participate in internships. In addition, the government and educational institutions should work together to address this growing challenge of mental health risk, according to the authors.

All the university students must complete vaccine registration by September 27 so that syndicate and academic councils can decide to reopen their universities, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday. The minister said this after a virtual meeting on reopening universities with Vice-Chancellors, representatives of University Grants Commission (UGC), secretary for Secondary and Higher Education division, president of the national technical committee on Covid-19 and officials concerned. Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury also attended the meeting. According to a decision of the meeting, the teachers, students and officials of all the universities of the country will have to register for vaccination against Covid-19 by September 27.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday decided to vaccinate university students as soon as possible so that their dormitories could be reopened. The decision was taken at a virtual meeting chaired by Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni. The vice-chancellors of public universities and officials of the Education Ministry and UGC took part in the meeting. As per the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, all the university students would be vaccinated on priority basis starting with residential ones. Also read: Bangladesh sees rise in Covid infections; 41 more die The meeting decided to permit all the public and private universities to conduct online and direct examinations at their respective university campuses. The academic councils of the respective universities would take the final decisions regarding the online and direct examinations following the UGC instructions. Also read: Take exams but don’t reopen halls: UGC Dorms will be reopened making it sure that all the students are vaccinated and the academic activities of the universities are run regularly, said a UGC media release. The universities were asked to prepare a Recovery Plan according to their capacity and the social reality so that the damage caused to the students during the pandemic could be minimised, the release added.

The country's second-largest mobile operator Robi will offer a low-cost internet data package for university teachers and students to support online education.

Students of public and private universities will be provided with internet bandwidth of state-owned mobile operator Teletalk at a nominal price to help continue their online education activities.

Dhaka, Sept 7 (UNB)- Samsung Research & Development Institute Bangladesh (SRBD) awarded 10 university students for winning a Coding Contest held in the city in between June 21 and August 31.