Syed Raiyan Abu Zafar

When the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) promotes its motto as ‘25 years of progressive higher education’, it has a much deeper meaning than what people usually interpret it as. For starters, a complete student is not one who just excels in academics but one who excels in extracurricular activities as well.
Now is this good just for the student? No, a student who excels both in academics as well as extracurricular activities is good news for the community, country and the world as a whole. This fact is evident through the performances of IUB students, such as those who are members of the International Club of Duke of Edinburgh, established in 2011 at IUB.
The Duke of Edinburgh Club was founded in 1956 in the United Kingdom by Prince Philips, the husband of Queen Elizabeth. It is now overseen by Prince Edward, the Queen’s youngest son, with over 5 million young people taking part in it in the UK alone. The Duke of Edinburgh Award is presented by sponsoring organisations affiliated with the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award association in 144 nations, including 32 in the Asian Pacific region.
How does a student participate in this?  Simple. A student of IUB joins by paying a registering fee of TK 1,500 for a three-month period. The student’s work is judged by testing him or her through completing a tier of activities, social services and skills, as well as recreational, physical and adventurous work.
The social services  provided  by IUB Duke Club members have included collecting money for an old-age home and clothes for madrassa students in Dhaka’s Bashundhara area. Also, a campus drive to collect warm clothes to distribute among poor people in other parts of the country was conducted in the recent past.  
Alongside all this, during the three-month period club members develop other skills, for example by taking part in sports activities such as cricket, football and table tennis. They can join the sports clubs for free. Club members also take part in physical (gym) activities for three months, at the conclusion of which an exciting and learning experience awaits them at a boot camp in Gazipur which is supervised by professionals. It includes three days of swimming, tree tasks (passing from tree to tree without touching the ground), rope climbing and ground crawling.
At the end of all that, one qualifies for the bronze award based on his or her points. The silver can be achieved by exactly following the same routine, only the intensity of activities and the time frame is expanded to six months. Finally, to attain the highest award which is gold, a student needs to give a whole academic year to the Club doing the same activities. The only difference being the student needs to visit the boot camp more than once.
At present, IUB Duke of Edinburgh Club has 155 active members, with over 400 members enrolled, few of whom are already graduates of IUB but are still dedicating their time to the Club. Moreover, sponsor companies of the club award, like Isphani Company, have good news for members of the club as they have suggested keeping aside a 5 percent quota of jobs for IUB students from next year.
So, here ends just a brief story of just one of the clubs of IUB. The university is now ranked among the top four universities in Bangladesh. Clubs like the Duke of Edinburgh not only recognise and enhance this status, but appreciate and bring out the hidden talents that every individual has within themselves, while at the same time teaching them new skills. This combination also enhances a student’s personality and level of confidence.