Happy birthday to JU

The university is governed by the university Act'73. When I was the elected Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University (till the time I was dethroned by invoking a clause that dates back to two hundred years), I decided to hold "university day" or university "birth day" on 12 January every year. There were two motives behind the decision. First and mostly personal reason was to do something which others did not do but could perhaps encourage successive VCs to follow suit. Thus for time to come, my name could be associated with the university day that I started. And I firmly believe that every VC should do something which would go a long way to uphold the image of the university. Second, I thought that every year on this particular day of 12 January, the 'old' and the 'new' should get together to glean the growth of their campus and if possible, help its development from different corners. I recollect -- and I hope I am right -- about 5000 persons registered their names to display a massive showdown on the first ever university day.

Soon the day turned out to be too popular and demanding to be forgotten or demeaned. The year before last, the administration declined to celebrate the day and teachers and students organised on their private pursuit to maintain the continuity of the festival. This year on 12 January, the present administration successfully managed the celebration. Ex-teachers and VCs were honoured with crests for their contributions, students and teachers exchanged their sweet and sour memories and the whole campus assumed a look of a different kind. I am proud that the plant I planted as a VC has tended to grow as a tree in subsequent years. Hopefully the system will continue to survive.

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JU could be proud of its many activities but the sordid session jam. In my department of economics, for example, students who were to complete their masters in 2000 finished their examination in 2004! That is not the end of the prolonged pain. After eight months of their examination, they are still loitering on the corridors crying for a quick result. As a teacher, I feel frustrated and furious too. On the university day, one of our promises could be to get rid of the session jam that grips many of the departments of JU.

One needs to recall one of the earlier submissions that session jam in academic institutions go to mean low productivity of the academic factors of production, mainly teachers. When session jams are alive, arguably, teachers are deemed to be dead and vice versa. Universities are akin to industries where inputs are given for a stipulated level of output during a certain period of time. If it takes six years to produce a graduate that ought to take four years, then definitely you need to be censored or downsized on the basis of marginal productivity criteria. The private universities are right on this line of reasoning and that is perhaps why they are growing fast. Public universities like JU should bear in mind that the axe of the jam falls heavily on the poor than on the rich. Again, private universities grew not so much on the basis of their wisdom as it is on heels of the woes of public universities.

During our presentation on the university day, Professor Amirul Islam Chowdhury ( a former VC) and myself emphatically emphasised this point. But there are "sycophants" who liked to praise the administration and VC to eke out some benefit from the mercy that is supposed to pour out of the praise. A VC should always treat these sycophants with suspect. I can only hope that the present administration of JU would pay heed to the critics like us rather than to those running after the cream. The sooner the realisation occurs, the better it is for the image of the administration and the institution.

JU could become one of the best and beautiful centers for academic pursuit. For that to happen, the administration should devote its full attention in managing funds for its expansion and development. Teachers and students together should rise on their toes to raise the image of the university. I wish the institution to be a centre of excellence in this part of the world. Happy birth day to you, JU.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.