72 years of excellence in higher education: RU bears the glory

Rajshahi University (RU) has completed 72 years as one of the country's top institutions providing higher education, starting journey in a hut on the bank of the Padma River.

Since its establishment on July 6, 1953, the university has been making special contributions to education, research and culture. The well-acclaimed seat of learning in the northern region later swept unmatched fame as a precious centre of higher education in the entire country.

However, despite some successes in the seven decades since its establishment, the teacher and accommodation crisis has not gone away, and there are also session jams prevalent.

According to the university administration, the institution which started journey with only 161 students currently has more than 30,000 students.

There are 1,120 teachers and a large number of researchers associated with it. The 753-acre campus has modern infrastructure including 12 faculties, 59 departments and six research institutes. There are also various facilities including 14 academic buildings, 17 residential halls, international dormitories, libraries, ICT centers, museums, stadiums, swimming pools.

Rajshahi University has established a proud position in the domestic and international arena in education and research. Recently, Professor Dr Mohammad Toufiq Alam of the Department of Applied Chemistry and chemical engineering has conducted the first successful research in the country on the development of sustainable technology for preserving leather without salt.

Professor Dr Mamunur Rashid Talukder of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering has achieved success in crop production in agriculture using plasma technology. Dr. Arun Kumar Basak, Emeritus Professor of Physics at RU, has also achieved success.

These researches are also having a positive impact on the country's practical fields.

According to the US Global News Rankings 2025, RU is ranked 638th among the world's research universities.

Earlier, RU achieved the top spot in the country in the Webometrics ranking published on January 27 this year.

Moreover, 15 researchers, including the university's Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Saleh Hasan Naqib, have been included in the list of the world's top 2 per cent of scientific researchers.

Regarding the success of the university, Professor Md Akhtar Hossain Majumder, administrator of the Public Relations Department, said, "Currently, Rajshahi University is in a satisfactory position academically and has also created an important place in international research. However, our responsibility is to produce graduates based on market demand. For this, efforts are being made to modernise the curriculum."

Ariful Islam, a student of the Department of Social Work of the university, said, "There is a constant shortage of seats in our residential halls. They also grapple with the problems like unhealthy food, unclean bathrooms, and shortage of safe drinking water."

"These irregularities cannot continue in a 72-year-old university. We want accommodation that is educationally friendly, healthy, and safe.

The university halls should be our second families. We want RU to be a place where not only the pride of the past, but also effective policies of the present and preparations for the future will be together."

Sadia Tanzim, a student of the Department of Anthropology, said, "While walking on the campus surrounded by greenery, the immense beauty of nature catches the eye, an unknown fear arises in the mind, especially for female students. The environment required for free movement has not yet been fully ensured. We want a campus where the library will remain open until 10 pm, drama rehearsals can be held, and research labs can be worked on without fear.

Campus security is not a priority, it is our right."

RU Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) Dr. Md. Farid Uddin Khan said, "To overcome the housing crisis, the university administration has already sent a proposal to the government to build five new

halls. In addition, the construction of a new hall for boys is almost complete, and more than 1,100 students will get housing facilities there by December. The work of a hall for girls is also nearing completion, and we hope it will be inaugurated next year."

Regarding the overall situation, RU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Saleh Hasan Naqib said, "RU is currently doing well in various fields including research, ranking and higher education. We have arranged various incentives to encourage students and researchers as well as teachers and researchers. The university is working on overall academic reform and quality improvement."

"Work is underway to modernise the curriculum in each department. Academic discipline and class management are being monitored to ensure that credits are being followed. Teacher evaluation will be introduced to ensure the accountability of teachers. A coding-decoding system without name-roll is being introduced from the current academic year for the evaluation of exam answer sheets," the VC added.

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