Result delay puts JU students in a fix
Every year, a tale of shattered dreams and missed opportunities unfolds in Jahangirnagar University. Let's take the case of Mahadi Hasan, a master's student from the Bangla department. Despite completing his written exam on December 19, 2022, he failed to apply at Bangladesh Police, National Security Intelligence, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), and other government bodies thanks to the delay in publishing results.
Mahadi and his peers had to wait for almost six long months till June 7, 2023, to finally see their results, although the relevant departments are bound by the university laws -- Section 26 (iii) of Exam Regulations 2003 -- to publish results within 75 days of the honours final exam.
I missed those circulars and many more as my result was not published by then. Some of my friends also missed the first two circulars of the posts of assistant teacher at a government primary school.
"I missed those circulars and many more as my result was not published by then. Some of my friends also missed the first two circulars of the posts of assistant teacher at a government primary school," said Mahadi.
The situation in at least 34 out of 36 departments of the university is more or less the same, this correspondent verified based on last year's results.
Like Mahadi, two more students from the mathematics department of the same batch (2017-18 session) shared a similar experience with The Daily Star.
Teachers are bound to submit tutorial marks before the final exam. Weekend courses or private universities should not be the first priority of Jahangirnagar University teachers.
This year, they completed their written and practical exams in January and February respectively. However, their results were released on June 12, 2023.
The Department of English is one of the worst examples of publishing delayed results. Students from the 2016-17 session of this department finished their honours final written exam on June 30, 2022, but their result was published on December 22, almost six months after the exam.
For the first, second, and third years, the situation is even worse. Students from session 2018-19, completed their third-year written exam on March 27 this year, but their results are yet to be published.
Contacted, Sabera Sultana, chairman of the English department, claimed that one of the teachers is yet to submit the answer scripts, leading to the delay.
Meanwhile, senior teachers of the university held the exam controller office responsible for not monitoring the issue sincerely.
The office should strictly monitor whether the teachers are collecting the papers, providing grades, and returning those on time, they said seeking anonymity.
I Delay in publishing results should not be the trend. The stipulated 75 days are enough to publish results. Exam controllers and dean offices have important roles to play in monitoring the situation.
However, renowned academician and economist Prof Anu Muhammad held the teachers accountable for the delay and advocated for launching an effective monitoring system to address the students' sufferings.
"Teachers are bound to submit tutorial marks before the final exam. Weekend courses or private universities should not be the first priority of Jahangirnagar University teachers," Prof Muhammad added.
Contacted, Prof M Salahuddin, JU exam controller, also blamed teachers for the delay.
"We don't make any delay after getting results from the respective departments. If they do not send the results, how will we publish it?" Prof Salahuddin asked.
Asked, newly-appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) Prof Md Mustafa Feeroz, said, "Delay in publishing results should not be the trend. The stipulated 75 days are enough to publish results. Exam controllers and dean offices have important roles to play in monitoring the situation".
He said he will make them accountable and review the academic calendar of each department.
JU VC Prof Nurul Alam said they will issue a circular soon in this regard.