DU suspends evening MBA admission test

The Dhaka University yesterday postponed the admission test for the evening programme of Master of Business Administration (MBA).

The test was supposed to be held between 11:00am and noon yesterday at the Azimpur Government Girls School and College centre.

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman told reporters that he requested the Dean concerned to postpone the exam.

Prof Abdul Moin, acting dean of the Faculty of Business Studies, said the test was postponed for the time being due to a "misunderstanding".

Earlier on February 24, a meeting of the university's academic council decided to suspend the admission of students to evening courses until a policy is formulated in this regard.

Since then, no process has been made on formulating the policy due to Covid-19 pandemic, said sources.

A week after the country reported its first novel coronavirus cases on March 8, the DU authorities suspended all academic activities till March 28. The suspension was later extended for an indefinite period.

Amid such a situation, the Business Studies faculty announced the schedule of the admission without notifying the VC and the two pro-VCs.

The VC and Pro-VCs said they were not informed about yesterday's exam.

Soon after the news of holding the admission test spread on social media on Thursday, it drew a huge flak from former and current students of the university. They slammed the decision saying that the authorities should not hold the test amid the Covid-19 situation and without formulating a policy.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Prof Akhtaruzzaman said, "I was not aware of the admission test being held. I came to know about it through some media reports. I asked the Dean to suspend the exam and formulate a guideline regarding the evening MBA courses."

Prof Moin claimed that they were preparing for holding the test following the university's rules and regulations and that they have postponed the exam because of a "misunderstanding".