DU students to hold a satirical event to protest administrative negligence

Dhaka University students will hold a symbolic student credential verification workshop for university officials tomorrow to protest administrative negligence. 

The satirical event follows claims that the registrar's office is failing to verify student credentials for foreign universities, leading to lost admission opportunities and unnecessary financial burdens on applicants.

The programme, to be held in front of the university’s administrative building, is being organised as a form of protest against alleged “harassment” at the registrar building, organisers said.

Under the banner “Conscious Students of Dhaka University”, the organisers have invited Pro-Vice Chancellor (Administration) Prof Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha and Registrar Munshi Shams Uddin Ahmed. The invitation letters were formally delivered to them at noon today.

Arko Barua, a second-year student of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies and one of the organisers, said that complications arose recently when the university administration failed to properly respond to an email verification request sent by a Swedish university regarding a student applying for higher studies.

“Later, an unclear Facebook status from university authority was used to explain the matter, which indicates the administration’s indifference towards students,” he said.

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“When we apply to foreign universities, they send emails for verification. But we have seen that the DU administration often does not respond to these emails and instead issues statements justifying their position,” he added.

He further alleged that students frequently face harassment when visiting the registrar building for various services, and the programme is a symbolic protest against such experiences.

According to him, the programme will include discussions on how to properly receive and respond to emails and calls, improve the quality and standards of services provided by officials, and reconsider the fees set for certificate verification.

Recently, allegations have emerged that at least two students lost opportunities to pursue higher education abroad due to issues related to verification fees.

Rejecting the claims, the university authority sent a press release yesterday. 

The release stated that no foreign university directly communicates with the University of Dhaka for certificate verification.

Instead, such verifications are conducted through third-party intermediary organisations.

It added that students applying to universities in Europe, the Americas, and other regions receive emails from intermediary organisations—such as WES, First Advantage, Qualification Check, DataFlow, AMS India, and UHR—requesting verification of their credentials.

Students then apply to their preferred intermediary and pay the required fees.

Following this, the intermediary organisation sends a verification request to Dhaka University along with a fee of USD 50.

As per a decision of the university syndicate dated November 22, 2015, a fee of USD 50 per student is required for certificate verification. 

This fee is not paid by the universities but by the intermediary organisations.

Upon receiving the fee, the Controller of Examinations office verifies the certificates, and the registrar’s office subsequently sends the verification report to the intermediary organisation via email.

Regarding the case discussed on Facebook, the press release said that the intermediary organisation UHR sent an email to the university on March 4, 2026, but did not pay the required fee as per university rules.

It added that if the intermediary fails to pay, students themselves can deposit the fee at Sonali Bank’s Dhaka University branch. Since no payment was received in this case, the university responded by requesting the verification fee and did not delay or neglect its responsibility.

The release further claimed that another allegation—stating that the university failed to respond to an email from the University of Bologna—is “false and baseless”, asserting that no such email was received by the university.