Conditions for appointment of teachers are lax, irregular
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UGC’s monitoring report has revealed irregularities. Allegation of using more fuel oil than the prescribed limit is against the vice chancellor.
According to University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines, a minimum CGPA of 3.6 in undergraduate and postgraduate classes is required to become a teacher in a science faculty in a university. But instead of complying with that, the university set CGPA-3 decimal 25. In the end, even that condition was not met. Even less candidates with CGPA are appointed as teachers.
বিজ্ঞাপন
This incident happened at Rangamati Science and Technology University. Not only low CGPA, teachers are appointed despite lack of requisite experience. Again, instead of the notified post, the teacher has been taken to another post.
These cases of relaxation of conditions and violation of rules in the appointment of teachers have been caught in the observation of UGC. Again more fuel than the prescribed limit has been used for the vice chancellor’s car. The higher education regulatory authority of the country, UGC, has given an observation report highlighting these irregularities.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Chittagong University Biochemistry and Microbiology Department Professor Md. Atiyar Rahman was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Rangamati Science and Technology University on January 9 last year by the Ministry of Education. During his tenure, 22 teachers were appointed in June last year and 7 teachers were appointed in January this year. According to the UGC report, 7 out of the 22 recruits in the first round had violated the rules.
According to UGC sources, the budget assessment team of UGC visited the university on October 27 and 28 last year. At that time, the university identified the violation of rules and the use of excess fuel oil in the appointment of teachers and staff. The university authorities responded to these observations of the UGC on April 21.
Jatiyatavadi Chhatra Dal has started a movement to demand the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor on the charges of irregularities in recruitment, insulting local culture and politicization of recruitment. On this demand, the party leaders locked his office last Tuesday.
According to the UGC report, recruitment circulars are published and teachers are appointed without following the Commission’s uniform teacher recruitment guidelines. According to UGC documents, Muhammad Farooq Rahman has been appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology of the university. He did not have a minimum CGPA of 3.25 in graduation.
One year of active teaching or research experience at university or research institute level with Ph.D degree as assistant professor was stipulated in the recruitment circular of the university.
But according to the UGC report, Abdullah Al Mamun in the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology and GM Salim Ahmed in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality have been appointed as assistant professors. Although they had no active teaching experience at the university level.
The university authorities claimed to the UGC that even though the recruitment notices were issued several times, no suitable candidates with experience were found. But those who are appointed, have Ph.D. They are qualified.
Meanwhile, against the Assistant Professor in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality of the University. Abdul Halim as lecturer; Against the post of professor in the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resource Technology. Matiur Rahman Chowdhury has been appointed as Associate Professor, Muhammad Farrukh Rahman as Lecturer against Assistant Professor of the same department and Muhammad Jamshed Alam Patwari as Associate against Professor of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department.
In this way, the UGC calls the appointment of teachers against one post as a violation of the rules. In 2019, UGC had given eight conditions for recruitment of university manpower. One of these was that no manpower could be posted to a lower post as opposed to a higher post, except for authorized posts.
According to UGC’s observation this time, there is no opportunity to appoint any other post against one post without the approval of the commission. The approval of the commission was not taken even in the case of appointment of part-time teachers.
According to the UGC observation, the fuel availability for the university vice-chancellor was fixed at 200 liters per month in the financial year 2024-25. That is, the vice chancellor could use fuel oil worth Tk 24,000 per month (at that time the price of octane per liter was Tk 120). The amount of which is 2 lakh 88 thousand rupees per year.
But after reviewing the vehicle fuel consumption list of the university, the commission delegation found that the pajero jeep used by the vice-chancellor cost Rs 4 lakh 42 thousand 553 per annum, which is much more than the fuel availability. The university authorities claim that fuel oil has been used more due to coming and going to Dhaka almost every month for official work of the university.
Vice-Chancellor Atiyar Rahman told Prothom Alo about violation of conditions in the appointment of teachers, not following UGC guidelines and using extra fuel for his car, “We have explained this to UGC.” He did not comment further.
When UGC Chairman Professor Mamun Ahmed was contacted over the phone for comments on these issues, he asked to speak to the public relations department. Additional Director of Public Relations and Publication Department of UGC. When Roknuzzaman was contacted, he asked to speak to Deputy Director Mohammad Abdul Mannan. When Abdul Mannan was contacted by phone last Tuesday, he said that he was busy in an urgent meeting.
President of Citizens for Good Governance (Sujan) Chittagong and former Vice-Chancellor of East Delta University Muhammad Sikandar Khan told Prothom Alo that the appointment of teachers by relaxing the minimum qualification conditions for teacher appointment is not acceptable in any way. It’s a work in progress. The appointment of one post to another post has not been decided. This is a new university. Therefore, in the beginning, by breaking the rules and relaxing the conditions, the appointment of teachers was not right. Once this trend starts, such incidents will continue to happen again and again in the future.
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