The vice-chancellor is the most important administrative post at any university — central to improving the quality of education and research, ensuring an academic environment, protecting the rights of teachers and students, and implementing a university’s long-term plans. Yet controversy continues to follow vice-chancellor appointments at the country’s public universities. In some cases, an appointment notice has been cancelled within hours; in others, a vice-chancellor has been removed within a month of taking office.
At specialized institutions such as the University of Science and Technology, candidates have reportedly been installed as vice-chancellor in violation of the law. At many major universities, merit, competence, expertise, research record and academic qualifications have not been given much weight in vice-chancellor appointments, and a number of the vice-chancellors appointed under this pattern have become mired in controversy.
According to sources at the Ministry of Education, of the country’s 57 public universities, the current government has appointed vice-chancellors to roughly 30 posts since taking office. These appointments have drawn allegations of political identity, personal preference, party closeness, recommendations and lobbying. Some appointments have also drawn allegations of financial transactions, reportedly running as high as 5 crore taka (about $410,000). A teachers’ syndicate tied to a political party at one major university was reportedly active in pushing these appointments, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Education experts say that after the July mass uprising, the public had expected that vice-chancellor appointments would prioritize merit and qualifications over party affiliation or quota considerations. Instead, the opposite has happened, they say, with people who lack subject-specific academic expertise still being favored for the post due to party loyalty.
Experts say that whenever a change of government takes place, teachers aligned with the incoming party become eager to secure posts such as vice-chancellor, and pursue every possible means to do so. They say there is a clear reason for this: vice-chancellors oversee large sums of money that change hands through project implementation, development and renovation work, tenders, and teacher and staff recruitment at every university, making the post a lucrative one. Experts say this pattern of appointment is undermining universities’ core research mission of developing new innovation, contributing to public universities’ declining performance in international rankings.
Appointments in violation of the law
Professor Dr Md Moktar Ali was appointed vice-chancellor of Gazipur University of Frontier Technology Bangladesh (UFTB). He is a professor in the marketing department at Dhaka University. However, the university’s own law requires that its vice-chancellor be a person of recognized standing in information and communication technology with administrative experience.
Professor Dr Md Zakir Hussain was appointed vice-chancellor of Sunamganj University of Science and Technology. He is a professor in the Department of Al-Hadith and Islamic Studies at Islamic University. The law governing that university similarly requires the appointment of an academic well known in the field of science and technology.
Professor Dr Golam Rabbani, vice-chancellor of Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU), is a professor at Dhaka University’s Institute of Social Welfare and Research. His appointment as a science and technology specialist likewise did not comply with the university’s law.
Similarly, Professor Dr ABM Shahidul Islam, a professor in Dhaka University’s marketing department, was made vice-chancellor of Maulana Bhashani Science and Technology University — again in disregard of the law requiring a science and technology specialist for the post.
Separately, appointment committees at several science and technology universities have taken advantage of appointment notices that did not specify the required special qualifications. Professor Dr Md Khairul Islam, of the Department of Business Administration at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), was appointed vice-chancellor of that same university. Dr Mohammad Sabirul Islam Howlader, a professor in the Department of Arabic at Rajshahi University, was made vice-chancellor of Pirojpur Science and Technology University — even though the university’s law provides for the appointment of a recognized academic in the field. Experts believe this loophole has allowed academic experience to be bypassed in these appointments.
Experts have questioned whether appointing teachers from business administration or humanities backgrounds to the top administrative posts of science- and technology-focused universities undermines those institutions’ capacity to carry out their academic mission.
Appointed, then cancelled
A striking example of these inconsistencies is the appointment and subsequent cancellation of vice-chancellors at Begum Rokeya University and Jamalpur Science and Technology University. On May 14, a notice was issued appointing Professor Dr Anisur Rahman, of Dhaka University’s marketing department, as vice-chancellor of Begum Rokeya University for a four-year term. That appointment was cancelled within hours after allegations of political affiliation surfaced. Professor Md Shawkat Ali, of Dhaka University’s Department of Applied Mathematics, was later appointed vice-chancellor instead.
On the same day, Professor Mohammad Amir Hossain Bhuiyan, of Jahangirnagar University’s Department of Environmental Sciences, was appointed vice-chancellor of Jamalpur Science and Technology University. He was removed from the post on June 6, just 23 days after taking office. Professor Md Amir Hossain, of the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding at Bangladesh Agricultural University, was later appointed vice-chancellor of that university. Sources say proper vetting was not carried out in these appointments either.
When political identity becomes a weapon
The biggest complaint surrounding recent vice-chancellor appointments is the priority given to political identity. Those connected to the universities say political loyalty and closeness to the ruling party have taken precedence over merit in vice-chancellor appointments. Amid such allegations, the case of Professor Md Nazmus Sadat, vice-chancellor of Gopalganj University of Science and Technology, has drawn attention: on August 17, he sent separate congratulatory messages, on the vice-chancellor’s official letterhead, to four new members of the BNP’s national standing committee. The move triggered a storm of debate and criticism in university circles. Although the office of vice-chancellor is meant to be neutral and institutional, the act of formally congratulating senior leaders of a political party has raised questions about his impartiality. According to university teachers and others familiar with the matter, at least 90% of recently appointed vice-chancellors have been chosen on political considerations, with only about 30% appointed on the basis of merit, competence and academic ability.
The Ministry of Education formed a six-member search committee on April 2 to select qualified candidates for vice-chancellor posts at the country’s public universities. Asked repeatedly by phone about irregularities or controversies in vice-chancellor appointments, committee member Professor Md Morshed Hasan, of Dhaka University’s marketing department, did not answer his phone. Another committee member, Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor ABM Obaidul Islam, said: “I don’t know very much about these matters.”
Professor Dr S.M.A. Faiz, a former chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), said merit and qualifications should be given the highest priority in vice-chancellor appointments. “Anyone who expresses interest in the post or lobbies for it should be the first to be disqualified,” he said, adding that candidates should not even be applying for the post. He said whether the irregularities and mismanagement seen on university campuses during the Awami League era might return is now a major source of concern.
A pattern that began under Awami League rule
During the July mass uprising, a leaked audio recording of a phone call between then-Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr ASM Maksud Kamal and then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina drew widespread attention, with the call widely discussed as hinting at a harsh crackdown on the student movement. The authenticity of that recording later surfaced in the records of the International Crimes Tribunal. Beyond that case, vice-chancellor appointments at various public universities during the Awami League era were made on political considerations, with those officials facing allegations of irregularities, corruption and decisions made outside the rules in tenders, development work, and teacher and staff recruitment. Citing that experience, experts say that if the old pattern of politically driven vice-chancellor appointments continues even after August 5, it risks creating a biased environment in other university appointments and administrative decisions as well.
Professor Mohammad Mojibur Rahman, of Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research, said appointing vice-chancellors in violation of the law is wrong. “If there has been any irregularity or financial transaction involved in an appointment, it needs to be investigated, and those responsible should be punished,” he said.
Adnan, a student in the Department of Agriculture at Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU), said: “Since NSTU is a specialized university, we expected someone experienced in science and technology. Having a vice-chancellor with a social-science background has raised concerns about the university’s capacity to contribute to technological development and research.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report