Orientation Held 4 Months After Admission Test for Dhaka Central University

After a year-long session jam caused by alternating protests between teachers and students, regular academic activities have finally begun at the proposed Dhaka Central University (under implementation), comprising the seven government colleges. On Thursday (1 January), orientation or introductory sessions were held simultaneously across all departments of the seven colleges.

Field visits revealed that regular classes started today in every college under the proposed Dhaka Central University for the 2024-2025 academic session. This marks the beginning of bringing first-year students back to routine academic life.

In Dhaka College and other colleges, orientation programmes were organised for newly admitted first-year students of the 2024-2025 session. Students from all departments participated in their respective departments.

Nasir Ahmed, a student of the 2024-2025 session, said: “Today (Thursday) we had our orientation programme. As a first-day experience, I can say it felt really good. Everyone got introduced, and the environment was normal and positive. The best part is that after so much speculation and uncertainty, our classes have finally started. Today we received our routine, the syllabus was explained, and we were informed when regular classes would begin. This has largely removed the uncertainty among students.”

He added: “There is no more resentment now. Earlier, there was some distance due to mismatched demands between us and the teachers. But now we all want to move forward together. Teachers will always remain respected in their place, and as students, we also respect them. The government or authority will take their decisions, but the mutual relationship between teachers and students was there before, is there now, and will remain in the future.”

However, Dhaka College Principal and Interim Administrator of the proposed Dhaka Central University, Professor AKM Elias, commented that although there were some initial gaps between expectations and reality, academic activities have now started returning to normalcy. He said: “There were some issues at the beginning. But now academic activities have begun. We hope there will be no major complications ahead.”

Regarding the first-year examinations, he informed that examinations for the 2023-24 session students started in September. Considering that, there is now approximately eight months left to complete the current academic activities.

Professor AKM Elias further said that this time frame is sufficient to complete the session. “We believe it will be possible to finish the syllabus and conduct examinations within the stipulated time. If regular classes and academic activities continue without interruption, students will suffer no academic loss. The main goal now is to overcome the session jam and return to a normal academic year through coordinated efforts of the administration and teachers.”

It is worth mentioning that on 26 March this year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) recommended to the government the formation of a new public university named ‘Dhaka Central University’ or ‘Dhaka Kendriya Bishwabiddalay’ by integrating the seven government colleges in the capital. The colleges are: Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls’ College, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Mirpur Bangla College, and Government Titumir College.

Later, the government took the matter into consideration and made a policy decision to establish a new independent public university by merging the seven government colleges. The finalisation process of this is currently underway.