More than 500 students sat for the National University honours admission test in waterlogged classrooms at the degree section of Comilla Victoria Government College.
Due to continuous rainfall over the last three days, the ground floors of all buildings on campus were submerged. As the National University admission test was scheduled from 10am on Saturday, students were forced to take the exam in these inundated rooms.
Students expressed their frustration, saying it was extremely uncomfortable to take the test with their feet submerged in water. Many said they struggled to concentrate.
Zainal Abedin, who came from Meah Bazar Government College, said: “I sat for the exam on the ground floor of the Kollap Building. My feet were in water most of the time, and whenever I lifted them, the itchiness made the situation even more unbearable.”
Nadia Islam, a student of Comilla Government Women’s College, said: “I had prepared well for the exam, but the environment completely threw me off.”
Jamal Uddin, a guardian who brought his daughter from Chauddagram, said: “We arrived and found her assigned seat inside a flooded room. There was nothing we could do – she had to sit through nearly an hour of the exam with her feet in water.”
Comilla Victoria Government College, one of the most prominent institutions in southeastern Bangladesh, suffers from waterlogging every monsoon. Although multiple plans have been made over the past decade to address the issue, no effective measures have been implemented.
The institution has around 29,000 students. Both its higher secondary and degree sections are affected by waterlogging.
In the degree section alone, 33 classrooms across various buildings remain submerged at different times. Additionally, the ground floors of the Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall (male dormitory) and Nawab Faizunnesa Hall (female dormitory) are frequently inundated. Not just classrooms and buildings—fields and walkways also stay submerged during the rainy season.
Professor Md Abul Basher Bhuiya, principal of the college, said: “The waterlogging in the degree section has been a problem for the past 20 years. Water from the adjacent BSCIC industrial area and nearby residential zones flows through the campus. We've informed the Education Engineering Department and the Comilla City Corporation, but no effective steps have been taken. As a result, both students and teachers suffer year after year.”
Expressing his frustration, he added: “Principals come and go, but the problem remains. I also tried to take initiatives. Many of our former students are now in the Education Directorate and Ministry—if they wanted, they could draw attention to this matter. The academic and residential struggles faced by students here are truly reaching a critical point.”
