Teacher-Student Centre, University of Dhaka

Teacher-Student Centre
ছাত্র-শিক্ষক কেন্দ্র

Teacher-Student Centre
Alternative names TSC
General information
Type Recreational Centre
Architectural style Modern
Location Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh
Coordinates 23°43′52″N 90°23′46″E / 23.731229°N 90.3962°E / 23.731229; 90.3962Coordinates: 23°43′52″N 90°23′46″E / 23.731229°N 90.3962°E / 23.731229; 90.3962
Completed 1961
Design and construction
Architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis
The front view of TSC

The Teacher-Student Centre or TSC of the University of Dhaka is situated within the Dhaka University campus area, Shahbagh, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Teacher-Student Centre was established in 1961 by the Dhaka University as the Division of Student Affairs.[1]

History

The Teacher-Student Centre was established in 1961 by the Dhaka University as the Division of Student Affairs.[1] The construction of the Teacher-Student Centre was financed by the Pakistan Government and the Ford foundation. Certain parts of the area where the Teacher-Student Centre is now situated used to be land of the old Sujatpur Palace grounds (the oldest Nawab Mansion in Shahbagh), which stood there before Teacher-Student Centre was built. There was a Greek cemetery on the west side of the race course, now Suhrawardy Udyan, which is possibly where the guest rooms behind the Teacher-Student Centre cafeteria is. Many historically important political meetings and discussions were held at the Teacher-Student Centre during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Even now the same trend continues regarding political situations amongst the students.

Architectural significance

Greek Memorial - TSC Complex
Fountain in TSC

The main Teacher-Student Center building was designed by Konstantinos Doxiadis, a Greek architect and town planner. It is an example of modern architecture, and it takes into account the local culture, climate, and indigenous spatial arrangement around a court. A unique feature it has is an extra butterfly canopy (double roof) extended over the main block at the front, which helps to keep the Centre cool. This complex brings together dining rooms, meeting rooms, libraries, art and music rooms, stages, a multipurpose hall, game rooms, a film lab, rehearsal rooms, and more, under one roof. As a result, the Teacher-Student Centre forms the social and cultural heart of the campus. The complex has some extensions which were built during the 1980s that allowed north-south cross-ventilation . As one enters the Teacher-Student Centre, a sculpture of crows in flight, which was sculpted by the Ekushey award winning sculptor Hamiduzzaman Khan, greets the visitors.

Across the green lawn to the east of the Teacher-Student Centre stands a small Greek Mausoleum. It was constructed in 1915 . This building was designed to have a small square structure, such as a classical doric monument, rather than in a more ecclesiastical style. It has a flat roof and projecting forward on all sides, with an entrance on its east side, which transforms the square plan into a cruciform shape. It is the only trace of the small Greek community that existed in Bangladesh in the 19th century . The mausoleum still has several epitaphs attached to the wall, most of which are written in classical Greek.

Inside the swimming pool enclave of the Teacher-Student Centre, two small Siva temples are housed, with a dwarf monument in between them. The swimming pool is currently not in use.

Activities

TSC Corridor

The Teacher-Student Centre is an all-campus activity centre designed for relaxation and guidance. It has its value as community centre, as it unifies the community of the university and serves as a sponsor of self-directed activity in which students learn that they are responsible for the welfare of their university and their country. The centre seeks to foster a type of campus community life, which supplements the formal academic program of the university students. Recognized campus organizations hold their meetings, functions, lectures, and arts exhibitions here. Discussion sessions are frequently scheduled, journals and bulletins published, and competitions held, giving the university a varied and interesting programme of cultural and social events.

The Teacher-Student Centre faculty has designated and fixed few dates for some events. For example, Basanta Utshab (13-14 Feb), which is Bengali spring festival, Boishaki Utshab (15–19 April), which is Bengali New year festival, Fete de la Musique (2 July) and Friendship Day (First Sunday of August). These festivals bring in many activities which includes local fairs, face painting, music, drama, dances and colourful dress codes (wearing yellow attires at spring festival and red and white signifies new year). The Teacher-Student Centre created a working field by the formation of the Dhaka University Cultural Team with a new approach which reflected a great impact amongst the student community. The Teacher-Student Centre is resounded by the teachers, students of different halls, activists of socio-cultural organizations with various programmes of educational, co-curricular and entertainments; national and international seminars, symposium, freshers and fare-well receptions and orientation programmes of different Departments and Institutes.

The students activities also included donating reliefs, for example during the devastating flood of 1987 and also the recent Sidr in 2007. Students prepared food and saline for the flood affected people for over four months that year. The centre also holds the facilities of a voluntary blood donation organization, called Badhan, organized by the students of the University.

The centre also houses the office of Badhan, Dhaka University Debating Society (DUDS), Dhaka University Film Society, Dhaka University Tourist Society (DUTS), Dhaka University Journalists Association (DUJA), Dhaka University Photographic Society (DUPS), Dhaka University Chess Club, Dhaka University Model United Nations Association (DUMUNA), Rover Scout and different socio-cultural groups of the students.

Dhaka University Publication Centre, Janata Bank are also situated in the Teacher-Student Centre.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Miah, Sajahan (2012). "University of Dhaka". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to TSC, Dhaka University.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, December 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.