Do teachers have the right to destroy the lives of students?

- Sajeeb Sarker

As the students of the session 2002-03 in the university, we were supposed to

have our 4 years BSS (Hons.) degree completed in 2006, and Masters by 2008. But, we
had to appear at our BSS (Hons.) final examination in March 2008, and we didn’t have
our result published and our classes for Masters are not starting yet.

At present world, we hardly can think of getting a suitable job with a certificate of
Hons. degree only, and on the contrary, when we even don’t have it, what can happen to
us then! We won’t get the Hons. degree certificate until our result is declared. If declared
once, it takes a lot months (usually – nearly an year) for students to have their certificate
in hand. In such a condition, we are terribly distorted about our life, our career, our
families... and it has been generating pressures on our psychic health to be a ‘jobless’ one
even after appearing at the Hons. final examination.

We used to complete In-course, Tutorial exams and Assignments as parts of our

course-finals; we were to evaluate ourselves – whether we are doing (learning) right or
wrong – through the performances over those, but we hardly got any result of those
papers before the year-final exams; we could know about marks we used to get on those
parts just from the final mark sheet of the year-final examination. After that long much
late, it happened impossible for us to recall – how we performed at which, and whether
there’s any mistake in marking or not – or getting that corrected by contacting the
concerned course-teacher if there had been any doubt about the marks. We even have to
sit for our In-course, Tutorial exams or have to submit Assignments even a short or long
after the year-final examination; hard to believe, but must to believe!

All the circumstances stated above are true almost for all the
departments/faculties of the Dhaka University. Yet, there were (are) departments also that
used to have their classes started, completed and even have exams taken of the year we
used to just step in. It means, it’s not anything impossible to maintain classes, exams and
results in time. Some other departments of the same session as ours already have their
Masters classes started while we are grazing in our parents’ bare fields!

We just want our result published, we just want our certificates in our hands
quick; we even can’t apply for a job without the certificate, because, only appearing at the
Hons. final examination is not enough even for the interview of a job – it needs the
proper certificate. If other departments can maintain it, why ours can’t then? There
shouldn’t be any excuse at all. No one of the department can tell us when our result may
be declared, or from when our Masters classes may start; but, the whimsical attitude of
the department and of our teachers (?) says, neither of this two matters is going to happen
within this year! ... Can teachers do whatever they want to do with students?
- Sajeeb Sarker
Dept. of Mass Communication and Journalism,
University of Dhaka.