The Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) authorities have taken all out preparations to hold its different year’s final examinations that were postponed for Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the residential halls will remain closed during the examinations.
As the dormitories will remain closed, the students will have to face acute accommodation crisis, the university authority has taken various steps to ensure female students accommodation outside the campus.
Besides, as many students are also facing serious financial hardships due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the SUST authority also waived tuition, transport and residential accommodation fees.
Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed, Vice Chancellor, told that, Our students can sit for examinations without paying their all academic dues, expenditures and fees. And the students have also been asked to pay their fees when they would be able to do that. In this regard, they wouldnt have to pay any fine,
Replying to a query about accommodation crisis as residential halls remain closed, the Vice Chancellor said they do not have anything to do in this regard as they have not any green signal from the government to reopen the residential halls.
However, our all department heads have been asked to ensure female students accommodation facilities at any cost. If any department does not take initiative to arrange accommodation for the female students, the students have been asked to contact the university authorities. And then the university authorities will take measures in this regard,Farid Uddin Ahmed continued as saying.
When asked about the review classes, the Vice Chancellor said that all the departments have been asked to take review classes from the first January on the basis of necessity.
Besides, all departments have also been instructed to become sympathetic about the presence of students in classes and evaluate examinations papers. Apart from these, all departments have been asked to maintain gap so that students will be able to get enough time for studying. In this regards, each department will sit with its all year student to way out a nice solution,Ó he added.
In the first phase, examinations of masters final and fourth year honours students will be held.
And the rest different years students final examinations will be taken gradually later, Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed, Vice Chancellor, he said.
They said students must be provided with residential facilities, health protection, and transport facilities to prepare for examinations, adding that the decision of holding exams while keeping the halls shut was irrational.
But the Earlier on March 16, the government closed all the educational institutions of the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Since then they have been staying at their respective homes and attending virtual classes and examinations as they know nothing when their universities will be reopened.
Meanwhile, students of public universities continued demanding reopening of residential dormitories before sitting for exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic. They said students must be provided with residential facilities, health protection, and transport facilities to prepare for examinations, adding that the decision of holding exams while keeping the halls shut was irrational.
There are not enough accommodation facilities around the university, the students said expecting that the university would take the exams after ensuring residential facilities
He said In the first phase, examinations of masters final and fourth year honours students will be held.
And the rest different years students final examinations will be taken gradually later, Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed, said. In the first phase, examinations of masters final and fourth year honours students will be held.
All departments have already been asked to take all out preparations to hold the final examinations from January 17.
The three-hour long examination has been reduced to two hours while two-hour to one hour.
The male students have been asked to manage alternative accommodation as the university dormitories remain shut from March 16 in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier on March 16, the government closed all the educational institutions of the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus
And on Friday the ongoing closure of all educational institutions in the country have been extended again till January 16, 2021.
We don’t want to affect the students academic activities. So, we have taken decision to hold the all year final examinations in phases, Professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said.
The SUST VC said as the university authority is determined to make the institution free from session jam, it is coming up with various measures so that students would not suffer session jam if the coronavirus pandemic persists for unusually long time.
Our university is completely free from session jam. But the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected the academic activities of all educational institutions badly. So our universityÕs academic activities have also been affected. Yet, our teachers are working hard to connect bridge between them and students by taking regular virtual classesÓ the Vice Chancellor said.
However, students are unhappy over the university authorities decision as it will hold the final examinations keeping the dormitories shut.
They have demanded that either the university reopens the residential halls on a limited scale or provide the students with alternative accommodation facilities.
