Two foreign students have left Dhaka University over security concerns following a series of cocktail explosions at different locations across the campus over the past three days.
Vice-Chancellor Professor ABM Obaidul Islam disclosed the development at an event organised by the university’s Faculty of Social Sciences on Wednesday.
“An unstable situation developed on the campus on Tuesday. As a result, two foreign students left the campus on Wednesday morning. They informed me in the morning that they would leave because of security concerns. This is not the kind of university we want,” the vice-chancellor said.
A series of cocktail explosions have taken place at different locations on the campus over the past three days. A driver standing in front of the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS) was injured in one of the explosions.
The identities of the two foreign students who left the university have not been disclosed. The vice-chancellor also declined to reveal their names.
The university’s International Affairs Office oversees admission-related activities for foreign students.
Amran Hossain, a senior cartographer at the office, said around 50 foreign students were currently studying at Dhaka University. However, he said he had no information about the students who had left the campus.
Meanwhile, addressing the event, the vice-chancellor announced plans to introduce the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) system across all university departments within the next three months.
He said the system was essential to ensure internationally recognised education standards and prepare students for the job market.
Without OBE, he warned, graduates could fall behind in both domestic and international employment markets. The system is also necessary for obtaining international accreditation, he added.
The vice-chancellor also stressed the need to modernise academic curricula in line with students’ skills and workplace requirements. He suggested introducing artificial intelligence (AI)-related courses in different departments and incorporating subjects relevant to current developments.
He said curriculum reviews should not be limited to university teachers, adding that professionals from relevant fields and representatives of industries should also be involved.
Emphasising the need to improve the quality of university research and academic journals, he called for an end to the practice of publishing journals merely to secure promotions.
He said university journals should be brought under international indexing systems and warned that initiatives would be taken to discontinue journals that failed to achieve indexing within the stipulated timeframe.
The vice-chancellor also stressed the need for effective policies to encourage teachers to conduct regular research and publish academic papers.
