Barishal University, the largest higher education institution for students in the southern region, is facing a severe accommodation crisis.
Only 18.67 per cent of its students have the opportunity to stay in university halls, while the remaining 81.33 per cent are forced to live in mess houses.
This has increased their educational expenses and hampered their studies.
Female students, in particular, suffer more due to the lack of hall accommodation, as they remain under constant mental stress from insecurity outside.
Students face various problems daily for not getting hall seats. In addition to spending extra money, their studies are also hampered.
This is reflected in the words of Law Department student Shawkat Osman. “As there is no residential hall in our university, I have been staying in a rented house outside the university for two and a half years with extra cost. Living far from campus means I can’t always reach classes on time. As a result, I can’t study properly.”
It has been learned after talking to several teachers and students that around 10,000 students study here. But most of them do not get hall seats.
Without living in the dormitories, they cannot participate in co-curricular activities such as cultural events and debate competitions. As a result, their creativity and cognitive abilities are not being developed properly.
Whereas a student’s monthly expenses are at most Tk 4,000 while staying in a hall, in mess the minimum expense is Tk 8,000. Besides, in halls, there are separate reading rooms where students study in peace and get help from peers. But such facilities are not available in messes.
Both male and female students face various types of harassment and trouble if they do not get hall seats.
A female student from the political science department told Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, “Those of us who live outside face financial difficulties as well as security risks. We must return to our messes before evening. Besides, we often face harassment on the way to and from the university.”
According to university administration sources, Barishal University officially started its journey on 24 January 2012. At that time, in the 2011–12 academic session, 400 students were admitted to six departments under four faculties.
Currently, the number of students is about 10,500. There are four halls—two for male and two for female students—with a total of 1,202 seats.
Among them, Bijoy-24 Hall has 288 seats, Shere Bangla Hall has 300, Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall has 314, and Taposi Rabeya Basri Hall has 300 seats.
Excluding the seats for postgraduate students, the remaining seats are shared by two students per bed. On that basis, four halls can accommodate 1,867 students.
When asked about initiatives to solve the housing crisis, Vice-Chancellor Mohammad Toufiqul Alam told Prothom Alo on 23 September, “The residential crisis is acute, that is true. For this, we have included construction of several new halls in the new project proposal. A project director (PD) has already been appointed. Hopefully, once the project is implemented, the crisis will be eased to a large extent.”
Suffering even in the halls
Due to the shortage of seats, halls are accommodating more students than capacity.
Where a maximum of four students are supposed to live in one room, seven or eight are staying. As a result, even students living in halls are suffering.
Resident student of Sher-e-Bangla Hall, Md Sujan, said, “Two of us are crammed together sharing a single bed. Eight students in a four-person room means there is no environment for studying. During exams, the problems get even worse.”
Despite repeated applications, many students do not get hall seats.
Prothom Alo correspondent spoke with at least five students from the Bangla and Political Science departments. They said they applied at least four times for seats in residential halls but did not get them.
They alleged that students linked to influential political parties get hall seats by applying just once, while ordinary students fail to get seats even after applying four or five times.
Speaking about this, Shere Bangla Hall provost Abdul Alim Bashir told Prothom Alo, “Since the establishment of the university, the number of disciplines has increased along with student numbers. But infrastructure has not increased accordingly. That is why instead of four, eight students are living in a single room at the halls.”
Regarding allegations of political influence in seat allotment, he said, “I have been in charge for only one year. I do not know how seats were allocated before. But since I took charge, I have tried to allot seats according to the four categories.”
Acute transport shortage
Due to the lack of residential facilities, most students have to live in rented houses in the city or commute regularly for tuition. Yet, the limited number of buses, rundown vehicles, and BRTC buses add to their suffering.
Sometimes these buses break down while travelling; sometimes they have to be pushed to restart. At other times, water leaks through the roof, causing problems for students.
According to the university’s transport pool, as per UGC’s plan, 35 vehicles were supposed to be purchased between 2011 and 2021. But currently the university has 25 vehicles—13 buses, five microbuses, two jeeps, a private car, an ambulance, and three motorcycles. No new buses have been allocated since 2020.
Amiya Mondol, a student of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, said, “Safe and adequate transport service is every student’s fundamental right. Yet, we suffer due to limited buses. At the same time, our studies are being seriously hampered due to lack of accommodation facilities.”
Amid such a situation, after a 37-day movement demanding land acquisition for infrastructure development and sufficient transport facilities, seven students went on a hunger strike unto death on 4 September.
They broke their fast upon the VC’s assurance after 25 hours. At that time, the VC promised to resolve the transport crisis by 9 September. But so far, the crisis has not been resolved.
When asked, VC Mohammad Toufiqul Alam said, “Already a BRTC bus has been provided to resolve the transport crisis and two more will be added soon.”
Professor Shah Sajeda, former president of the Sacheton Nagorik Committee’s Barishal unit, who was active in the movement for establishing the university, told Prothom Alo, “Yes, we got a university through movement, but even after so many years, it has not achieved its desired goals.”
“We see worrying issues repeatedly—lack of halls and infrastructure, inadequate research allocation, shortage of teachers, frequent movements, and closure of the university. These problems are major obstacles to the overall development of students,” she added.
This correspondent also spoke with at least six students who live in messes outside, including two female students and four male students.
They said most students studying in public universities come from lower-middle-class and poor families. If they do not get hall seats, it costs Tk 8,000 per month to live in mess houses. Many cannot afford it.
Moreover, since the university campus is located outside the city, commuting becomes troublesome. Female students, in particular, face harassment and humiliation in various ways.