Established in 1970, Jahangirnagar University is the only residential university in the country. At present, the university has 16 residential halls, eight for boys and eight for girls, for more than 14,000 students.
Despite being a completely residential university, it has no reading room in most dormitory halls.
Students are using alternative rooms and waste materials, such as discarded table tennis tables to carry out the study. Those who cannot manage a seat regularly in such dilapidated reading rooms gather in the university’s central library. Meanwhile, the library of the three-storied building, built in 1985, has 447 seats only. The pressure on the library is increasing gradually.
On closer inspection, it has been observed that most of the residential halls don’t offer any dedicated reading room facility. There are a few small rooms next to the common room of Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall for study. The learning environment is being hampered as it is the only corridor to go to Block-A from B of the hall. Studying there is quite impossible due loud TV in the nearby common room.
Reading room of Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall
Although there is a small reading room in decent shape in Al Beruni Hall, only a handful of students can study there.
The large reading room of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall had been used as a Gono Room for the first-year students. Now it is abandoned for years. The students are studying in the vacant room of Hall Students Union (Chhatra Sangsad) for now. As there is no study table, they are using two table tennis tables and wrecked chairs.
Large Reading Room of Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman Hall remains abandoned for Years
The same situation is found in Shaheed Rafiq-Jabbar hall. A few chairs and tables have been set up in the small room opposite the dining room. Maulana Bhasani Hall has recently been allotted a small room next to the dining room
As the canteen of Rabindranath Tagore Hall is not opened yet, the students are using the canteen as a reading room by placing a few tables and chairs there. However, due to the presence of a dining room next to it, the learning environment is being disturbed. AFM Kamaluddin Hall and Shaheed Salam Barkat Hall offer limited opportunities to study. A small room with a few chairs and tables in one side of the common room is allocated as the reading room of the hall.
The same picture can be seen in most of the girls' dormitories. There is no reading room in Nawab Faizunnesa Hall. Reading rooms of Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall and Begum Khaleda Zia Hall are being used as Gono-room due to an accommodation crisis. The students are continuing their studies in the dining room. There is a reading room on the second floor of Pritilata Hall and Jahanara Imam Hall where only 30-40 students can seat at a time. However, Sheikh Hasina Hall and Sufia Kamal Hall are in relatively good condition as they offer good study facilities. There are various books on Bangabandhu and the Liberation War for the students in the cupboard of the reading room.
The students have various complaints due to the crisis of reading rooms in the halls. Selim Mahmud, a resident of Bangabandhu Hall, said, “We are still in the mini Gono-room. There are 15-20 people huddled in one room. It goes without saying that there is no atmosphere to study in such rooms. Again, first-year students are not allowed in the reading room of the hall. Seats are not available in the library even after standing in long lines. I think, studying is the biggest challenge in the university now.”
In this regard, Provost of Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman Hall Mahbubul KabirHimel said, “Earlier, there was a reading room and students used to study there. But the reading room had been used as a Gono-room for the last few years due to the accommodation crisis. But from this year, we are trying to use it as a reading room again.”
Provost of Mir MosharrafHossain Hall Prof Obaidur Rahman said, “Reading room was introduced in the university for the first time in this hall. However, due to its small size, it cannot accommodate more students. We have plans to have a new reading room soon during the reform budget. ”
Meanwhile, the library of the three-storied building built in 1985 has a total of 447 seats. Even after 36 years of its establishment, the construction work of the library has not been completed yet. In this regard, the additional teacher in charge of the library, Professor Dr M Shamim Kaiser said, “Although there are 450 seats in the library, we have increased it to 550 by adding chairs and tables. However, the rest of the construction work for the library cannot be completed at present. The ongoing mega-project at the university has a tender for the construction of a modern library which will be implemented very soon. That will solve all kinds of problems, including the seat crisis. ”
Despite being a full-fledged residential university, why the reading room is in such a dilapidated state? In response to this question, the Chairman of the provost committee and the provost of Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall, Professor Mujibur Rahman said, “Due to seat crisis, the accommodation has been provided for 49 batches of students in reading rooms. However, very soon the provosts will have a meeting with everyone and in each case, a reading room will be arranged. In each case, a large room will be built as a reading room with all the facilities for students to study. ”
Appointed to perform routine duties of the Vice-Chancellor, pro-VC (Education) Prof Nurul Alam said, “I am aware of the shortage of reading room in the halls. We are thinking of giving a quick solution to this matter by talking to the dean of the hall. We look forward to the ongoing mega-project to ease the growing pressure on the central library. ”
Students are gathering in the central library of the university as they are not getting a proper environment for reading. Visiting the library at 6:30 in the morning, it is seen that students are standing in a long queue waiting to enter the library. Talking to some students standing in line, it is known that many people come from 5 am and stand in line. Many times the line crosses Murad Chattar and crosses the new registrar building. Students say, “To grab a seat in the library they came and stood in line after Fajr prayers. The final examination for the fourth year is going on. There is no environment to study in the halls and necessary books are not available in the seminar library. So we have to come to the library.”
“Standing in a long queue every day is very disgusting. Many times even standing in the queue for a long time, they have to go back due to seat crisis. This is an unequal competition. This unequal competition needs to be stopped," added the students.