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Jagannath University has started its admission exams for the A Unit undergraduate programme for the 2023-24 academic year, kicking off the entrance exams for the 24 cluster universities.
The one-hour exam began at noon on Saturday and ended at 1pm, reports bdnews24.com.
The admission tests were held at 23 centres this year. A total of 53,815 applicants sat for the exams, competing for 12,000 seats in the unit. This means 14 students are vying for each seat.
A total of 305,346 students have applied for admission to the 24 cluster universities. Of them, 170,599 applied for the science branch’s ‘A’ Unit, 94,631 applied for the humanities branch’s ‘B’ Unit, and 40,116 applied for the business branch’s ‘C’ Unit.
Students who selected Jagannath University are taking the exams on the campus and at five sub-centres overseen by the university.
These sub-centres are at Dhaka University, Siddheswari Girls College, Government Bangla College, Dhaka Residential Model College, and Begum Badrunnessa Government Women’s College.
Prof Jahangir Hossain, proctor of the university, said, “All preparations have been made to conduct the examinations properly. We are maintaining constant surveillance to prevent all forms of fraud. In addition to law enforcers, rover scouts, and BNCC personnel are at work. The proctorial body is also maintaining the utmost vigilance.”
“We have also arranged 400 seats for guardians at Victoria Park amid the intense heat. Fresh drinking water is available inside and outside the centres.”
The university took the initiative to provide 3,000 litres of water and 10,000 one-time glasses.
The ‘B’ Unit tests are scheduled for May 3 and the ‘C’ unit for May 10. Both exams will begin at 11am and end at noon.
Meanwhile, students and guardians are enduring the ongoing heatwave and heavy congestion during the exams. Most of the guardians who accompanied examinees took seats at Victoria Park. Many had handfans.
A mobile medical team is on duty, two of whom are doctors. It is the first time the initiative is being undertaken with the support of Dhaka WASA and the Directorate General of Health Services.
Many of the examinees had to overcome heavy traffic congestion to reach the exam centre at Jagannath University. Lines of traffic packed the road from the Roysaheb Bazar intersection to the Sadarghat. Most students coming to the exam centre from Gulistan had to walk part of the way.
“It took me nearly two hours to get from Mohakhali to Gulistan,” said a student named Dulan Gour. “There was a lot of traffic on the road. When I got to Gulistan I saw that the entire road was blocked. I walked the rest of the way from Gulistan. It was very hard to get to the centre like this amid the extreme heat.”