Politicised teacher recruitment a bane for public universities

SUCCESSIVE governments and authorities of the four major public universities—Dhaka University, Chittagong University, Rajshahi University and Jahangirnagar University—have violated the 1973 University Act in the appointment of vice-chancellor, claims the outgoing chairman of the University Grants Commission, Professor Nazrul Islam.

'Sadly, it is now a reality that if you do not belong to the pro-government group, your chance to become the vice-chancellor is very slim,' he said in an exclusive interview with New Age on Tuesday.

'…teacher recruitment has become politicised,' said Professor Islam, whose tenure at the helm of the commission expires tomorrow. 'As a result, party-neutral people become victims.'

He believes the quality of higher education in general has gone down because of poor teaching environment.

Professor Islam, a teacher of geography and environment at Dhaka University, insisted that low-quality private universities should be closed down if they fail to comply with the requirements.

He stressed the need for partnership between universities and businesses.

Professor Islam, whose tenure at the statutory body for supervision, maintenance, promotion and coordination of university education ran through both elected and unelected governments, believes a democratically elected government is better than a military-backed regime for the higher education system.

Source: New Age

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