Two foreign students leave DU over security concerns

Two foreign students have left the Dhaka University (DU) campus over security concerns following a series of crude bomb explosions and unrest on the campus in recent days, Vice-Chancellor Prof ABM Obaidul Islam has said.

The students informed the vice-chancellor of their security concerns on Wednesday morning before leaving the campus, following Tuesday's unrest, Obaidul said while speaking at a programme at the university's Faculty of Social Sciences on Wednesday.

"Following the unstable situation on the campus yesterday (Tuesday), two foreign students left the campus this morning. They informed me in the morning that they would leave due to security concerns. We do not want a university where students have to worry about their safety," he said.

However, the identities, nationalities and departments of the two students could not be confirmed immediately.

The university's International Affairs Office looks after the admission of foreign students and related activities. Contacted in this regard, Amran Hossain, senior cartographer at the office, said 50 foreign students are currently studying at DU.

However, he said the office had no information about the two students who had left the campus, adding that the relevant departments might provide further details.

Meanwhile, at the same programme, the vice-chancellor outlined plans to modernise the university's education system, improve research quality and strengthen its position in international rankings.

He said the university would take initiatives to introduce the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) system in all departments within the next three months.

Prof Obaidul Islam said the system was essential to ensure internationally recognised academic standards and prepare students for the domestic and international job markets.

"There is no alternative to the OBE system if we want to ensure international-standard education and prepare our students for the workplace.

Without introducing this system, our graduates will fall behind in both domestic and international job markets. It is also essential for achieving international accreditation," he said.

He stressed the need to modernise university curricula in line with students' skills and the changing demands of the job market.

He said departments should introduce courses on artificial intelligence (AI) and incorporate other relevant and up-to-date subjects into their curricula.

The vice-chancellor also called for involving professionals and representatives of industries in curriculum reviews instead of limiting the process to discussions among departmental teachers.

Emphasising the need to improve research and academic journals, he said the university must move away from the practice of publishing journals merely to meet promotion requirements.

He said DU journals should be brought under international indexing and warned that the university would take initiatives to discontinue journals that failed to achieve international indexing within the stipulated timeframe.

On improving the university's position in international rankings, Prof Obaidul Islam said DU needed to enhance the quality of teaching and research.

He also stressed the need for effective policies to encourage teachers to conduct regular research and publish quality research papers.