Gross anomalies in recruitment and promotion!

It is extremely unfortunate that there is no uniform set of guidelines to govern the recruitment of teachers in public universities. And whatever rules there are for recruitment and promotions have been followed in their violations in some universities. The graduates of these universities will be future leaders of Bangladesh, whether they land jobs in the bureaucracy or elsewhere, so it is imperative that the quality of teachers in these institutions is top-notch and there can be no compromise here. Thus when we are confronted with the frank admission of Vice Chancellors of some public universities that existing rules are not being followed in teachers' recruitment and promotion, there are ample reasons to be concerned.

What was public knowledge has now been confirmed that less deserving candidates are being recruited. We appreciate the candour of the VCs about the matter and wait to see precisely which suggestions will be incorporated into the draft set of guidelines that the University Grants Commission (UGC) is preparing. The bigger question here is: Precisely what has the UGC been doing all this time, whilst these irregularities were taking place? What is the point of having such a body if it chooses to sit on the sidelines while irregularities are being committed?

Some public universities have recruited some teachers who do not possess even the minimum qualifications for the job. The aggressive attempts by some overenthusiastic university officials to caderise the teaching faculty in the public universities will have a serious negative impact on the quality of education in the long run. Our expectation from the UGC is twofold: that it would not only produce a time-befitting set of guidelines but also look into the gross violations of the existing ones and take corrective measures.