DU's steady fall from grace

There was a time when Dhaka University was lauded as "Oxford of the East" due to the standard of its faculty and quality of its education. The institution was also synonymous with the momentous events in the nation's history. Some of the most important political movements like the Language Movement of '52, mass movement of '69, and the War of Liberation in '71, were in one way or another spearheaded by students of this university. Gone are the days when students and teachers of this university contributed significantly to society in the moral sphere.

Over the decades since independence, we have seen the gradual erosion of values and creeping in of politics as each government tried to mould student politics to its own benefit. Unfortunate as it may seem, today's Dhaka University is a hotbed of politics that has vitiated the atmosphere of education of the university. Student politics these days involves violence with the purpose of turf control above anything else. Teachers too are mired in politics, often acting as mouthpieces for national parties which reflect on the deterioration of the quality of teachers at the university. Things have gotten to the stage where a Vice Chancellor of the university calls upon party cadres to disperse ordinary students demanding the holding of student body elections.

There is of course a price to pay for all this politicisation. As per Times Higher Education's World University Rankings 2018, Dhaka University, which is the country's most prestigious public university with more than 63,000 students, ranked 1001+ out of 1,102 listed universities globally. This is a sad reflection of what the premium university in the country has stooped to. Dhaka University is the best we have to offer, and that we have allowed this august institution to be run down to this dismal state is our failure.