University of Gour Banga M.Sc Review By Diya Sarkar

The University of Gour Banga is one of the newest public state universities. It started its journey twelve years ago when the Government of West Bengal establishes it in 2008. It is located in Malda, West Bengal. The university campus is situated on NH 12 which is old NH 34 near Rabindra Bhavan. The university is being progressed slowly but steadily in course of time and it has developed twenty-five departments at present. The University has been playing an important role to spread quality education especially in Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, and Dakshin Dinajpur.

The design of the university building is inspired by the famous historical place of Malda District which is Gour, and the name Gour Banga University is also inspired by the same concept. It is one of the top-rated university of not only Malda but the whole North Bengal. As an important part of the educational heritage, it has established its mark strongly. I came into this campus after passing my regular degree examination and what I think of this university is a perfect blend of black and white. This university holds a significant spot in my career no matter what.

I achieved my master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Gour Banga. We were the batch of 2012 which is the second batch of the Computer Science department. It was the course of four semesters with tenure of six months each. On the basis of marks obtained in graduation and entrance examination, I and my other 19 classmates were selected for the course. The seats were very limited so I had to work very hard to get a chance to study. I recall that when I entered the classroom, I saw the room was empty.

There was nothing, neither benches nor a blackboard. We were shocked. Then our teacher came and advised us to bring some benches and desks from other rooms. There was no laboratory for our department at our university, so we had to do practical with our personal laptops. We did not have a library in our department. There was no canteen, so we had to bring our own tiffin. Never The classes started at the right time, sometimes we had to wait for one to two hours. As I said there was no blackboard in our department so our previous batch gifted a whiteboard to our teachers on teacher’s day so that we can continue our classes. In this way, the time up to the first semester was passed.

After facing many problems I was chosen for the course and I was very excited about the classes. After we introduced ourselves, then we came to know that our teachers are not permanent faculty members, they were the guest teacher. At that time we did not have any permanent faculty members. However, we were compelled to accommodate ourselves with the circumstances. As they were guest teachers, they were unable to take regular classes. We were provided with only three classes in a week.

Things got better when our first permanent faculty member joined after our fast semester. She took the fast initiative to bring essential equipment for the classes and practical room. After some days we got our second permanent faculty member. Then the classes started regularly and at a fixed time. We were very happy about getting them. The classes took by both permanent and guest teachers. For every subject, we got a separate teacher, which was a really big deal for us at that time. Our teachers were very helpful. As we were the second batch of our stream, we had to suffer a bit. Today it is a well-maintained department with top-class facilities. Students don’t need to bother about that.

Actually, one can’t expect too much about the placement cell of a government regular degree-course college. We did not have the expectations for our university. We knew that we have to fight hard to stand in the outer world. So, we were advised to focus on our career rather than depend upon the placement cell.

But, the good point is, there is a value of the stamp of Gour Banga University on the degree certificate. Our stream was new to the university but it was indeed a reputed university. They have brought some companies like Accenture and IBM. But, very few of the students were placed. The packages are not even half of what we have expected.

There were almost zero placements in the other streams too. There were no on-campus placements in some of the language streams. It is better to focus on study and attend interviews in general as expecting anything about placements in this university will be a matter of stupidity.

This is the most lagging point of the Gour Banga University. I mean, you can’t really join in a package of Rs. 2 lacks after doing your M.Sc. Only in this part, this university is not at all well deserved to be given any credit.

After the second semester, we got our practical room with 20 computers without an internet connection which was enough for us. We also got our university canteen though the foods were not good. But something is better than nothing. In the middle of the third semester, we also got an internet connection in our department. It really helped in our research work for our projects. In the last semester, we got every facility that we really needed. The examination was being held regularly and the result was also being out on time. At last, we passed out and got our M.Sc degree in computer science.

Nothing was born with a full-bloomed form. To be full-bloomed it takes adequate time and effort. In the case of our department, it happened so. We were witness to the progress of our department. After our passing out things get developed to a larger extent. There is now a library, but it is a common library. Till departments do not have its own library. The food in the canteen is really good. In our department, the number of permanent professors is also increased. At present, our university has attained a better position in all respect and progressing steadily.

The campus life was entertaining. A freshers welcome ceremony and a festival happened in every year. That was a common programme with every stream included in it. Also, there were cricket tournaments. We attended in programmes like Rabindra Jayanti & Basanta Utsav.

There were certain seminars happened at our college times. We used to learn a lot from those seminars. Those seminars were organised by University and those were like a treat to the students who want to know more about their subject.

Actually, there was not much time available when you are pursuing your master’s degree. Still, we used to gather in the common rooms and used to gossip. The campus was furnished beautifully with flowers. Overall, it was fun at that time.