Dhaka University students pay ‘exorbitant amounts’ as development fees

Dhaka University students are having to pay 'development fees' in addition to tuition and other fees, which they describe as 'exorbitant.'

University authorities justify it as necessary to meet the needs of the departments and say it had been imposed after the Deans Committee's cleared it. They claim the students pay it ‘willingly’.

Student bodies, including the Leftist ones, describe the development fees as ‘illegal’ and say protests against them have not been able to reverse the university's decision.

A bdnews24.com investigation has found that students have been charged between Tk 2,300 and Tk 14,760 in the first year of the 2016-2017 Academic Session as development fees.

It has been found that the university has also charged students additional fees for evening courses.

Asked about the matter, Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique told bdnews24.com: “Yes, if you just consider admission and tuition, it’s true that these are additional fees.

But different departments charge different development fees according to their objectives. And students are willing to give money for the good of their department. They do not want to miss out on facilities.”

The Deans Committee approves the additional fees after checking what the departments seek to achieve and on the recommendations of the Coordination and Development Committee, he said.

“The university authority speaks of ‘student paying willingly'.” said the president of leftist body Bangladesh Chhatra Union's DU unit Tuhin Kanti Das.

“But do they have an alternative? Is there any space to express dissent? I tell you there isn’t,” the student leader said.

Commercialisation of education is the reason behind these 'illegal' fees, according to Das.

“These development fees are just a part of it. The departments ask for whatever fee they want and the academic council allows it.”

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology student Taisha Tasreen agreed. "Why should we pay these illegal fees in addition to our admission and tuition fees?"

And the departments keep raising the fees, she said. Her department had tried to increase the amount of the fee from Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,500 this year, but reconsidered after protests by students.

Television and Film Studies department charges the highest

bdnews24.com gathered admission information on the first year of the 2016-2017 academic session  from 36 of Dhaka University’s 81 departments for this report.

The highest department development fees were paid by Television and Film Studies students – Tk 14,760. The department was formed in 2012.

A student of the department, speaking on condition of anonymity, told bdnews24.com the total charged during the session, including admission, tuition and development fees, was Tk 25,000. Admission fees are also Tk 3,500 more than charged by any other department.

Another student said fifth semester students paid Tk 15,750 as development fees, fourth semester students paid Tk 13,500 and second semester students paid Tk 13,000.

In 2014, leftist student organisations staged a protest against the department’s fees, claiming them to be exorbitant and were imposing additional burdens on students.

The department authorities went on to justify the fees, saying the protester’s claims were baseless.

But even the current head of the department, Reffat Ferdous, admits that its high development fees have put ‘pressure’ on students.

Bangladesh Chhatra Union rally in front of the National Press Club on Sunday urging the government to ensure education for all. Photo: asaduzzaman pramanik

“It is difficult for students from rural areas. But they can apply to the department for financial assistance.”

“The department proposed the fees to university authorities in 2012, when it was formed,” she said. “They approved it.”

Asked why the fees were charged every semester, she said: “The fees are collected according to the number of practical courses we conduct.”

The Department of Economics has the second highest development fee for first semester students.

One student of the department, on condition of anonymity, said that each student had paid Tk 13,900 in development fees.

First semester students of the Department of Population Sciences and the Department of Criminology paid Tk 8,000, the third highest development fees.

Students at the graphic design department paid Tk 7,500 in development fees this year, while students at the Department of Law and the Department of Public Administration paid Tk 7,000.

Of the 36 departments investigated, the Departments of English and Mass Communications & Journalism had the lowest development fees – Tk 2,300. But Journalism students also pay Tk 300 for using the media centre.

Additional fees for evening classes

Students of the one-and-a-half-year Masters programme at the Department of Development Studies have complained of exorbitant fees.

One of the students, on condition of anonymity, told bdnews24.com “They charge us a huge amount in addition to our admission and tuition fees. But they do not tell us what it is for.”

Contacted about the claim, Chief Assistant at the department Delwar Hossain Mazumdar could not inform bdnews24.com of the breakdown of the fees the students were charged.

The one-and-a-half year Masters program cost about Tk 150,000, he said.

Thirty percent of fees charged, in addition to admission and tuition fees, go to the university fund, he said.

The notice board outside says, Dhaka University students will have to pay Tk 6,875 in admission and tuition and Tk 8,175 for other fees.

Department Chairman Mohammad Abu Eusuf could not say what the additional fees were being collected for.

“I don’t actually know,” Abu Eusuf told bdnews24.com “They (the department’s officials) are collecting them.”

Evening MBA courses by Department of Business Studies

The Department of Business Studies is adding another course to its wide range of eight MBA evening classes.

The development fee for evening MBA students is Tk 10,000, said the faculty’s Evening MBA Coordinating Officer Sahidur Rahman.

Students also have to pay Tk 2,000 in development fees each year for the next three years, adding up to Tk 6,000.

“The MBA costs Tk 286,000, which includes Tk 10,000 for registration, Tk 5,000 for the computer lab and Tk 5,000 every semester as 'Semester Fee'," said Rahman.

The finance department’s Evening Courses Senior Executive Selina Akhtar says the course and semester fee for all MBA evening courses are set.

Semester fees are Tk 5,000. The number of courses varies from 20 to 22, according to the department. But the fee for each course is Tk 10,500, she said.

The 20-22 courses have to be completed within five years, she said. The semester fee has to be paid for each semester.