SUST: ‘Peace’ returns to halls, but many things remain ‘as before’

Before the 2024 mass uprising, getting a seat in the residential halls of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) was difficult if one was not a “brother’s person”. Hall seats were divided among different groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of Bangladesh Awami League that was in power at that time.

There were also allegations of torture in "guest rooms" for not participating in party programmes or not following seniors’ instructions. At the same time, students were concerned about the nuisance of drug users and muggers in different areas of the campus.

After the political change on 5 August that year, some visible changes have come in the university’s residential and administrative systems. With a new seat allocation policy, seats are being allocated based on departmental recommendation while incidents of ragging and political influence have decreased. Administrative work has also become automated.

However, students say that although there were many expectations after the uprising, many things have not changed. Food quality has not improved, and the medical centre remains another name for suffering. The reduction in cultural events has also reduced the vibrancy of campus life. Appointment of teachers with party identity in various administrative posts is also continuing as before.

There are three boys’ and three girls’ halls in SUST, with a total of 2,977 seats. Among them, seat distribution in girls’ halls has always been done by the provosts. However, before 5 August, seat allocation in boys’ halls was done through BCL (now banned) channels, while the provosts only performed duties on paper.

The university has more than 8,500 students in 27 departments and two institutes. After 5 August, all previous seat allocations in male halls were cancelled and a new policy was formulated. According to the policy, 60 per cent of seats are allocated on the basis of merit. The remaining 40 per cent are allocated based on students’ financial condition, distance from home, competition and several other quotas.

The chairman of the seat allocation committee and Director of Student Advising and Guidance, Mohammad Saiful Islam, said that for transparency in seat allocation, provosts send a list of vacant seats. From that list, seats are proportionally sent to departments. After recommendations come from departments, the committee verifies and allocates seats.

Before 5 August, since the student halls were controlled by Chhatra League, leaders used seat allocation to keep students “hostage.” To increase the number of workers in groups, leaders would create arbitrary “common rooms.” In these common rooms, instead of four people, eight to 12 people would live together.

There were also allegations of torture and ragging in guest rooms under various pretexts. Students were often expelled from halls at midnight with different labels, and rallies, meetings and leaders’ birthday celebrations frequently disrupted normal hall life.

However, currently a different picture is seen. Since allocation is done through departments, there is no disturbance from non-students or outsiders in the halls. In the last one and a half years, no reports of abuse in residential halls have been found.

Recently, on several nights in three student halls of the university, it was seen that most students were spending time studying. Some were studying in reading rooms, some were chatting, and some were busy cooking.

When asked, Shahparan Hall resident Sheikh Farid said, “The hall is now peaceful. Everyone goes about their own way, studies. There are no more midnight rallies, meetings, or scenes of fighting after waking from sleep like before. We do not want to see these anymore.”

Before 5 August, the BCL leaders and activists had strong influence at dining and canteen of halls. Food quality was poor. According to students, student leaders used to get food benefits from canteen and dining operators. Therefore, even if food quality was bad, students could not do much. In addition, some leaders and activists used to eat free food. There was also little variety in food. Recently, even though prices have increased, students say food quality has not changed.

Students say that in hall dining, khichuri-chickpea-egg costs Tk 35. In canteens it costs Tk 40. Rice with broiler chicken or fish costs between Tk 50 to Tk 70. On Fridays, biryani with broiler chicken and egg is made for Tk 100.

Bijoy-24 Hall resident student Faisal Hossain said, canteen food quality has recently become worse. Prices have also increased. Earlier rice was Tk 10, now it is Tk 15. Earlier rice with fish or chicken curry was available for Tk 30. Now fish or meat is not available below Tk 40 to Tk 45. There is no change in food quality; rather sometimes when administration tells dining canteen operators, they improve it for a few days.

However, Kamal Ahmed, who has been running a canteen at Shahparan Hall for about eight years, claimed that food quality has improved.

He told Prothom Alo, “Before 5 August, people used to eat on credit and leave after washing hands in the basin. Now everyone properly pays money. Now there is no credit system, so we can serve better food.”

After 5 August, co-curricular activities of the university have decreased significantly. Earlier, cultural organisations used to have dynamic activity. Cultural organisations used to arrange various programmes. But after 5 August, these activities have decreased a lot.

Minhaj, president of the music organisation “Shikor”, says there are three reasons: first, completing semesters in three to four months to reduce session backlog; second, reluctance of sponsors to fund events; and third, a kind of “fear factor,” due to which programmes have decreased significantly.

According to him, during the previous interim government period, these problems were severe. Therefore, cultural organisations could not organise large events.

Psychologist Fozilatunnesa Shapla believes that although the overall academic environment is good, the lack of co-curricular activities is increasing mental stress among students. This is increasing loneliness and creating depression among students.

Before the mass uprising, administrative posts from vice-chancellor to hall assistant provost were given to teachers loyal to the Awami League. After 5 August, those posts were given to the teachers aligned with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and and Jamaat-e-Islami. However, after the 12 February election, BNP-aligned teachers are now being appointed to administrative posts.

According to university sources, after the mass uprising, Vice-Chancellor AM Sarwaruddin Chowdhury, appointed on 18 September 2024, was once the treasurer of the Zia Parishad at Dhaka University. Pro-vice-chancellor Mohammad Sajedul Karim is the convener of the SUST unit of UTAB (BNP-aligned University Teachers Association of Bangladesh). Treasurer Mohammad Ismail Hossain is described on campus as Jamaat-aligned. On 23 May, replacing the previous vice-chancellor, Professor Mohammad Khairul Islam of Business Administration Department was appointed as the new vice-chancellor. He is the central joint secretary general of UTAB.

It has been learned after speaking to teachers that after the 12 February election, BNP-aligned teachers were appointed to two hall provost positions, the Director of Student Advising and Guidance, and the Centre of Excellence.

Among the teachers, some hold positions in the BNP-supported UTAB, some are members of the Zia Parishad, and some are associated with the Jamaat-aligned University Teachers’ Link. Others are also known as supporters of political parties outside these groups.

Regarding prioritising political identity in administrative appointments, former Vice-Chancellor AM Sarwaruddin Chowdhury told Prothom Alo, “We are appointing teachers based on merit. In recruitment as well, this is being given priority. There is no scope for any irregularities.”

Due to progress in automation, administrative work has improved. According to two university officials, recruitment, promotion, upgrading, retirement—all are done through the “Career SUST” portal. In addition, students’ semester registration, credit fees, course registration and results are done through the “My SUST apps/portal”.

Clearance services, certificates, mark sheets, and grade sheets can also be done online through applications. However, students complain that due to slow internet in residential halls, they often face problems.

Meanwhile, complaints of medicine shortages at the university medical centre have been longstanding. In addition, physicians often advise students to go to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital even for minor issues. Students said the same situation continues after the uprising.

After the uprising, new Social Science Building, IICT Building and Centre of Excellence have been opened, which has reduced classroom shortages in four to five departments. However, classroom shortages still remain in Oceanography, Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration departments.

Head of Oceanography Department, Subrata Sarkar said they have only two classrooms. Due to shortage of classrooms, classes are held in auditoriums or other departments. Recently two more rooms have been allocated, but they are not yet operational.

When asked about the overall educational environment compared to before, Professor Khalidur Rahman of the Statistics Department said, “It can be seen in two ways—teachers’ and students’ educational environment. But I would say the educational environment has not changed much as expected. People have certain traits. These traits do not change; rather, when given opportunity, they try to take more advantage. So we are not seeing any significant change.”