Alaul Alam :
It is no denying that once session jam was an inevitable part at tertiary level of education. Students would need seven to nine years to complete their four years graduation. It would pose devastation upon students and dreams of many would nip in the bud due to undergoing severe session jam leading them into disarray.
Over the years the education is combating this unexpected session jam culture. However, we see that public universities to an optimum level have been able to check session jam through undertaking many strategies along with changing their mentality. But recently a new panic has seized the education. It is thought that again session jam culture is going to cripple our education due to enduring prolonged closures amid covid-19 crisis.
It is usually heard that session jam is our own creation. In the near past the common phenomena used to cause session jam were political instability and campus violence but probably it is the first time the tertiary students may undergo session jam due to the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
Truly, amid the covid-19 crisis, the world leaders are trying to combat the economic recession but the loss in education is irreparable. Can we measure the loss in education sector that it is going to expose in near future? Now it is time to think how to avert generational catastrophe.
It is estimated that despite the ongoing online education, approximately 4.18 crore students from primary to university levels in the country have been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
This time to avoid health catastrophe no exams have been held at primary, secondary and higher secondary level of education. Students have been given auto – promotion to next classes though many parents are worried about academic year loss of their children. In line with this, private universities apart from online education have been instructed to hold exams online.
Over the concern of looming session jam the government advised the concerned to hold honors final and master’s final exams maintaining health guidelines. The concerned were instructed to run the exams without opening halls as the authority thinks that time has not come yet to reopen education and university dormitories.
But this time students of public universities amid the country are found demanding to reopen their class and halls and some cases students break into the halls and give some ultimatums to the universities to reopen soon. On top of that, amid the continuation of high stake exams at public universities, the announcement to postpone all ongoing exams makes students frustrated to think over their looming academic crisis.
The students of Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, Rajshahi University and others continue their protests. To them, the extension of the closure till May 23 due to COVID-19 would intensify the session jam. It has already cost them one full academic year and further delay in exams would cause a loss of another year which would be more catastrophic in their life.
Along with this, not only the government is reviewing the situation to reopen education giving the most priority on protecting health, but also they are thinking of relaxing age limit in BCS exam amid the corona induced and even the government job circulars are taking time so that final year students have scopes to apply.
To solve the impending session jam, Education Ministry, UGC and university authorities should find out strategies with well-equipped initiatives on priority basis to save students from post Covid-19 education catastrophe. We know that Dhaka University has already taken possible ways out of a shutdown-induced session jam. The various measures such as merging two semesters into one, taking extra classes, and cutting public holidays are really time-centric to address the ongoing education challenges.
But not only Dhaka university, all public universities should address the situation immediately developing student-friendly strategies to overcome the looming session jam supposing to attack our future generation. However, the universities are working on cutting the gap, but many of the teachers see no way to regain the lost months.But there finds hardly any alternatives to ensure psychological support for students as they are getting into trauma.
(Mr. Alaul teaches at Prime University. Email: [email protected])
