Abir Rayhan :
Foreign students are losing their interest to get enrolled into the Dhaka University (DU) due to accommodation problem, information and communication deficiency and absence of scholarship facilities.
Once, foreign students had obsession to study in this university- Oxford of the Eastern.
Even few years ago a significant number of foreign students got themselves admitted into the varsity, but now admission of foreign students has come almost to zero. This year two foreign students only got themselves admitted into the University, while four students in 2014-2015.
Information hazardness, university ranking decrease and residential and linguistic problems contributed to the fall of number of foreign students. Moreover, Dhaka University does not provide
any scholarship to foreign students.
Professor Syed Anower Hossain told The New Nation that semester system had totally destroyed our education system. There is no way to take more classes than twenty two or twenty five at the end of a semester.
Our academic system has collapsed and the university is lagging behind in the international university ranking. The foreign students do not get international standard of education here, quality campus environment, seats in halls, scholarship and other facilities. So they are losing interest in DU.
If we want to admit foreign students more, then firstly we have to ensure quality education for the students.
According to the Office of the hostel, 46 foreign students were admitted into the Dhaka University only in the last sixteen years. Most of the admitted students studied at the Faculty of Pharmacy and affiliated medical colleges. Most of them came from SAARC-Member countries.
A few years ago, many Palestinian students came to DU. But their numbers are decreasing day by day.
Satya Narayon Chowdhury, a DU student from Nepal, said, I am a residential student of Sir P.J. Hartog International Hall. The hall has enough rooms for foreign students, but most of those are occupied by others.
The environment of the campus is not properly safe for us. Everyday, procession, rally and some other political activities happen on the campus which is not suitable for foreign students. The teachers give lecture in Bengali language. But most of the foreign students cannot understand class lectures because they do not understand bengali.
Sir P.J. Hartog International Hall houses foreign students. Currently 120 foreign students live in this Hall. 18 of them are studying at Dhaka University and rests are studying in the colleges affiliated to the university. The maximum numbers of students are studying at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, among the affiliated colleges.
There are totally one hundred and twenty-two rooms in this Hall. Of them, foreign students live in sixty rooms while rests are occupied by teachers and officers.
An official said, before 2008 many foreign students were admitted to DU. But now the rate of foreign students admission is few. He said, our website is not updated. When, foreign students visit our website, they do not get proper information about DU admission system. We provide the application form in website received from the Education Ministry. Sadly before admission, they do not know where they will stay. DU Vice-Chancellor Dr AAMS Arefine Siddique said we cannot arrange proper facilities for the foreign students. Because the annual budget of the University is not enough to provide them more facilities. In the past, a lot of students came from Thailand and Malaysia. In these countries, educational institutes developed tremendously. As such students of these countries do not come to our university. We will develop our website as soon as possible. About the language problem of students, the VC said if any student tells me about the language problem or to his department chairman. I will take step to remove his problem.
The teachers will be asked to vacate the International Hall and we will try to provide more facilities for the foreign students.
Foreign students are losing their interest to get enrolled into the Dhaka University (DU) due to accommodation problem, information and communication deficiency and absence of scholarship facilities.
Once, foreign students had obsession to study in this university- Oxford of the Eastern.
Even few years ago a significant number of foreign students got themselves admitted into the varsity, but now admission of foreign students has come almost to zero. This year two foreign students only got themselves admitted into the University, while four students in 2014-2015.
Information hazardness, university ranking decrease and residential and linguistic problems contributed to the fall of number of foreign students. Moreover, Dhaka University does not provide
any scholarship to foreign students.
Professor Syed Anower Hossain told The New Nation that semester system had totally destroyed our education system. There is no way to take more classes than twenty two or twenty five at the end of a semester.
Our academic system has collapsed and the university is lagging behind in the international university ranking. The foreign students do not get international standard of education here, quality campus environment, seats in halls, scholarship and other facilities. So they are losing interest in DU.
If we want to admit foreign students more, then firstly we have to ensure quality education for the students.
According to the Office of the hostel, 46 foreign students were admitted into the Dhaka University only in the last sixteen years. Most of the admitted students studied at the Faculty of Pharmacy and affiliated medical colleges. Most of them came from SAARC-Member countries.
A few years ago, many Palestinian students came to DU. But their numbers are decreasing day by day.
Satya Narayon Chowdhury, a DU student from Nepal, said, I am a residential student of Sir P.J. Hartog International Hall. The hall has enough rooms for foreign students, but most of those are occupied by others.
The environment of the campus is not properly safe for us. Everyday, procession, rally and some other political activities happen on the campus which is not suitable for foreign students. The teachers give lecture in Bengali language. But most of the foreign students cannot understand class lectures because they do not understand bengali.
Sir P.J. Hartog International Hall houses foreign students. Currently 120 foreign students live in this Hall. 18 of them are studying at Dhaka University and rests are studying in the colleges affiliated to the university. The maximum numbers of students are studying at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, among the affiliated colleges.
There are totally one hundred and twenty-two rooms in this Hall. Of them, foreign students live in sixty rooms while rests are occupied by teachers and officers.
An official said, before 2008 many foreign students were admitted to DU. But now the rate of foreign students admission is few. He said, our website is not updated. When, foreign students visit our website, they do not get proper information about DU admission system. We provide the application form in website received from the Education Ministry. Sadly before admission, they do not know where they will stay. DU Vice-Chancellor Dr AAMS Arefine Siddique said we cannot arrange proper facilities for the foreign students. Because the annual budget of the University is not enough to provide them more facilities. In the past, a lot of students came from Thailand and Malaysia. In these countries, educational institutes developed tremendously. As such students of these countries do not come to our university. We will develop our website as soon as possible. About the language problem of students, the VC said if any student tells me about the language problem or to his department chairman. I will take step to remove his problem.
The teachers will be asked to vacate the International Hall and we will try to provide more facilities for the foreign students.
