Complex, Tedious Admission Process: Gruelling 3 days for DU freshers

An excited Imran Hossain reached Dhaka University from Chattogram earlier this week to secure his admission to the prestigious institution.

But he had no idea about the tedious admission process he would have to go through. He said the guidance he received from the university authorities was inadequate and he spent two days waiting in queues and going from one building to another in the scorching heat.

"The process is very complex and takes a lot of time and energy. I am exhausted," Imran told The Daily Star.

On June 9, he paid online the admission fee of Tk 7,830. The next day, he went to the business faculty around 10:30am with a printed copy of the receipt and started waiting for his turn.

When he submitted the receipt two hours later, the officials handed him a pay slip to deposit a development fee of Tk 5,000 to Sonali Bank's branch on campus.

Imran went to the branch at the administrative building around 12:30pm, only to find a queue of over 300 people. He could not pay the fee until four hours later.

"I did not even have lunch for fear of failing to make the payment," he said.

Imran then went to his department to submit the pay slip and other documents, but was told to come back the next day "because the documents that I submitted require signatures from the department chair."

Around 9:30am yesterday, he went to the department and collected the papers. He was then asked to submit the papers to the dormitory office. Upon submitting the papers at the Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall, he got another pay slip for depositing Tk 2,500 to Janata Bank.

Imran went to the bank's TSC branch around 10:30am and saw a queue stretching to the Bangla Academy gate, around 300 metres from the bank.

After several hours, he deposited the money and rushed back to his dorm and submitted the payment slip, but hundreds of others were still in the queue.

"The dorm office told me to leave the slip and other papers and come back the next day. I spent two days shuttling between the dorm, faculty, and bank, and hopefully, the process will end tomorrow.

Imran is one of around 6,000 freshers who have been suffering because of the lack of coordination among different offices on campus.

Besides, the mere three-day window, starting Monday, for the admission of such a large number of students is causing the long queue.

The admission committee had earlier requested the department heads to make sure students could pay the dorm and development fees online, but the department heads did not show interest, said a member of the committee.

But three department heads from the social sciences and arts faculties said they were not informed of the matter.

This correspondent talked to at least 50 freshers and their guardians, and all of them expressed disappointment that the payments could not be made online.

A man who came to the campus from Rajshahi for the admission of his daughter said he had been staying at a relative's home for the last few days and spending hours on campus.

"Almost everything is done online these days. But we are having to queue under the sun. The process is slow, complex and bureaucratic and it is because the officials involved are not too eager to make it simple and fast," said the father who works at a government department and is not willing to disclose his identity.

Nur Jahan, who was in a queue near the administrative building in the afternoon, said it was difficult for her and her daughter to spend hours under the glaring sun. "I let her stand in line and went to get some water for her. We could become sick from this ordeal."

Prof Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, who teaches international relations, said, "When we got admitted in the early 90s, we faced such hassles. But it's 2024, and the admission process has not changed much. It means the university has not progressed institutionally."

Moreover, the administrative officers and employees do not behave well with the students, he said.

Contacted, DU Vice Chancellor Prof ASM Maksud Kamal said there is a lack of coordination between the admission authorities and heads of departments and institutes.

"The university has started making the process online, but I am not sure why the entire system is not online. I took charge a few months ago and I hope that this problem will not be there next year," he said.