Higher education fell victim to ‘educide’

The newly founded 26 universities played a major role in turning university level teachers into party supporters in the last 16 years.

Guests at a seminar titled ‘From Dictatorship to the path of Democracy: In search of a Bangladesh without discrimination’ at the Professor Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium of Dhaka University on 20 January 2025.Prothom Alo

Bangladesh’s higher education sector has been a victim to ‘educide’, like genocide during the Awami League rule of last 16 years, said University Grants Commission member Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan.

Highlighting various crises at the 26 new universities established in the last 16 years, he said that he finds it difficult to call them universities. The new universities have been used to turn the country’s intellectual community, especially university-level teachers, into ‘party supporters’.

In a speech titled ‘Universities in every other district: Suicide of higher education’, Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan highlighted the current state of higher education in Bangladesh. His speech was part of a seminar titled ‘From Dictatorship to the path of Democracy: In search of a Bangladesh without discrimination’.

The day-long seminar was organised by Sarbojankatha, a political, economic and social analytical journal (magazine) at the Professor Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium of Dhaka University Monday.

From his experience of working as a UGC member, Professor Tanzimuddin Khan presented a picture of some of these new public universities. Labeling the project proposals for the infrastructure construction of these universities as ‘very strange’, he said that there are administrative and academic buildings, but no libraries. Meaning, these are universities without libraries.

However, everyone is interested when it comes to recruiting teachers or opening departments. Other objectives have become more important than operating the university. The minimum amount of education and research work that should be present there is absent as well, he added.

This UGC member said that many universities started academic activities in 2014-15 sessions, but classes are still held in rented buildings. There are universities that started operations in 2017-18 sessions, but didn’t start with the construction yet.

Education pushed to the edge of destruction

Mentioning that 55 public universities are operating in the country at present, Professor Tanzimuddin Khan said that the acts for six more universities have already been passed, but the universities have not been established yet. Some universities appointed vice-chancellors even before they were established. And, this is creating new complications.

Tanzimuddin Khan alleged that recruitment which had turned into a business had become even more important than academic (education) activities in these new universities.

Alleging that people with the posts of vice-chancellors or registrars in these universities had created a culture of corruption he said, “Incidentally, I came to know that for a job with the salary scale of Tk 10,000 one had to pay Tk 1 million (Tk 10 lakh) in bribe, and Tk 2 million (Tk 20 Lakh) for a job with the salary scale of Tk 20,000 taka.”

This UGC member said that the government facilities that come as benefits with the post attract the vice-chancellors as it creates a fascination. In the last 16 years, 26 universities have played a major role in turning the intellectual community, especially university-level teachers into party supporters.

The attraction is towards beautiful bungalows, cars, and offices and has encouraged many to become supporters of the government party, he added.

Tanzimuddin Khan said, “The education system has been pushed to the brink of complete destruction which can only be described as suicide and I don’t have any better word for it. If we think about it from the point of generations, this is a sort of educide.”

‘Diversity is the strength of Bangladesh’

‘Sarbojankatha’ editor professor Anu Muhammad delivered the closing speech at the seminar. He said that people of different religions and views participated in the mass uprising.

But after the mass uprising, a new chapter of obstructing freedom of expression, pressurising, posing threats and carrying out attacks has begun now. This is happening more in the name of religion.

Anu Muhammad added that the current government and the organisations close to them are far behind than the aspirations expressed on the walls during the mass uprising. He said that he wants to take those graffiti on the walls for declaration of the mass uprising.

Anu Muhammad mentioned that the only way to thwart the attempts of silencing and stopping people’s voice is to be more active and active against them. It’s diversity that is the strength of Bangladesh, he said.

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