DU suspends evening MBA admission test amid controversy
The business faculty was going to take the test at a time when the government just extended the shutdown of educational institutions until Dec 19 apprehending a second wave of Covid-19
Dhaka University's Faculty of Business Studies has suspended the admission test for its evening MBA programme after coming under fire for keeping the authorities in the dark about the exam amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The faculty was going to take the test at a time when the government just extended the shutdown of educational institutions until 19 December apprehending a second wave of Covid-19.
The admission test for the 45th batch of the programme, scheduled for 11am to 12pm on Friday at Azimpur Government Girls School and College in the capital, was cancelled at the eleventh hour on Friday morning, in the wake of criticism from different strata of society.
"I was informed about the exam on Friday morning and asked the dean of business faculty to suspend the test," Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Akhtaruzzaman told The Business Standard.
However, on Thursday night, the DU VC and Pro-VC claimed to media that they were not informed about the exam. "No guidelines have yet been formulated about MBA evening courses," they said in reply to a query.
It may be mentioned that the Education Council of the university on 25 February decided that all the activities for the admission of new students in all the irregular courses including evening ones would be suspended for five weeks.
A 16-member committee headed by the pro-vice-chancellor (education) of the university was formed to formulate a timely policy for conducting evening courses. But, due to the suddenly imposed shutdown by the government to stem spread of coronavirus, the formulation of the policy could not be completed.
In this context, the Faculty of Business Studies was going to take the admission test for its evening MBA courses without informing the university authorities.