Even after 16 years of establishment, Pabna University of Science and Technology (PABIPROBI) is in a multi-faceted crisis with inadequacy of classrooms, labs, residential halls. Construction of an academic building and two halls started in December 2020 to overcome the classroom and student accommodation crisis. However, the duration of these works has been increased by five steps, but it has not yet been completed.
Due to student complaints, lack of proper supervision by the administration, project director’s office and contractors not being held accountable, the work has slowed down.
On the other hand, due to multi-faceted crisis, the session has been jammed. Due to session congestion, hundreds of students of six of the 21 departments of the university could not even participate in the 46th BCS examination this time. The victims said that if there was no session jam, they could have participated in BCS last time.
In such a situation, the university authorities say that the construction of the academic building and two halls is going on. Once the construction work is completed, the class, examination and housing crisis of the university students will be solved to a large extent.
It is learned that classes and examinations are being disrupted due to the presence of only one academic building in the university. Some departments do not have enough labs. There are about 350 students in seven batches of undergraduates in the Department of History. In contrast, there is only one classroom. Due to this, the teachers are not able to complete the classes and exams within the specified time. The statistics department is also in crisis of classrooms, labs. As the department does not have its own lab, the lab of another department has to be used. The situation in the pharmacy department is even worse.
Several students said our classes, exams get delayed due to other department’s lab schedule.
Tasin Rahman, a third-year student, said that due to the classroom crisis, teachers cannot take routine exams even if they want to, there is no place to sit in the department. Stuck in a long session.
Morshed Riyad, a final year BBA student, said that the students with whom I was admitted together, had completed their studies in other universities. We are falling.
On the other hand, about six thousand students are studying in this university. In the 16 years of establishment of the university, only one academic building, one administrative building, two halls and two residential buildings for teachers and staff have been constructed. Number of seats is 788 in two halls (1 male and 1 female hall). Among them, there are accommodation facilities for 522 students in Bangabandhu Hall and 266 students in Sheikh Hasina Hall.
Work on the second development project of more than Tk 480 crore across the university campus is progressing slowly. The project includes two 12-storey academic buildings, 10-storey Sheikh Russell Student Hall and Bangmata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Student Hall. In December 2020, Sheikh Russel Hall for boys and Sheikh Fazilatun Nessa Mujib Hall for girls started at a cost of DDP 543.9 million.
The construction of the two halls was scheduled to be completed in July 2021 after work began in December 2020. Later, due to various problems, the work period was extended by another six months with the permission of the Ministry. In this way, the five-point work period was extended by showing various problems. But the work is not over yet.
It has been found that female students are suffering more due to housing crisis. Many are forced to live in mess and rented houses around the campus. There is no adequate security in these areas.
Talking to the students, it is known that due to the housing crisis, a large number of students are living in mess or rented houses around the campus and in different areas of the city. However, these messes and houses do not have many facilities. Mess is built only for profit. Flats are being rented for more money. There is shortage of electricity and clean water in these messes and houses. Sanitation system is also not good. Students are suffering from it.
Khandkar Nishat Tasnim, a student of the architecture department of the university, said that if there was a hall, the cost would have been reduced a lot.
Shafiqul Islam, a final year student of BBA, said that he was forced to stay in the mess. We have to live in these dilapidated messes at the risk of not being able to ensure adequate housing. Messes do not have round-the-clock electricity, as a result of which there is disruption in studies. Security is lacking. Valuables are often stolen. Female students are suffering more due to housing crisis. Many are forced to live in mess and rented houses around the campus. There is no adequate security in these areas.
Laila Arjumand Banu, Provost of Sheikh Hasina Hall, said that the housing crisis will be reduced if the under-construction ten-storey 1,000-seat Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall is built.
Provost of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall. Omar Farooq said that the number of seats in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall is 522. The under construction ten-storey 1000-seat Sheikh Russell Hall will reduce the housing crisis a lot.
The director of the development project of the university with two halls under construction, engineer Lt. Col. (retired) GM Azizur Rahman cited Corona, rising commodity prices and administrative complications as the reasons for the slowness of the work. The construction of the hall was supposed to be completed in July 2021, but it did not happen. Later the construction period was extended several times. He also said that the construction of the two halls will be completed in a very short time.
Vice-Chancellor Dr. Hafiza Khatun said that one student hall and one female student hall are going to be opened very soon. The construction of the new academic building is nearing completion. As a result, the university accommodation crisis and classroom crisis will be solved.
Pabna University of Science and Technology (Pabiprabi) is a specialized institute built for the expansion of higher education in the northern part of the country. On June 5, 2008, the company started its journey with 30 acres of land at a place called Rajapur next to the Dhaka-Pabna highway. It is the 29th public university and the 7th science and technology university in Bangladesh. The university entered its 17th year on June 5, 2024.
Initially the university had four departments under 3 faculties – CSE, EEE, Mathematics and Business Administration. The educational program started with 180 students, 12 teachers and 4 officials. At present 21 departments with 5 faculties are conducting the educational program.
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