DUCSU’s teacher evaluation initiative draws criticism, teachers enraged

The website created by the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) to evaluate teachers has drawn reaction from teachers at the university. Most teachers are enraged about the initiative. They believe the evaluation should have been conducted by the university, not DUCSU.

DUCSU officially launched the website on 10 September. By 4:00 pm on Sunday, 13 September, 6,489 students had evaluated their teachers. The scores received by individual teachers have spread on social media from the website. As a result, many teachers are being subjected to mockery and trolling.

Teachers say the initiative to evaluate them is unacceptable because it falls outside DUCSU’s jurisdiction. Even more unacceptable, they say, is the failure to keep the scores confidential. A teacher who fails to teach properly may be relieved of their duties, they said, but there should be no scope to humiliate them.

Many have also raised questions about the process DUCSU has adopted for the evaluations. Amid criticism, DUCSU on Sunday stopped users from viewing teachers’ scores on evaluation. By then, however, the scores had already been widely circulated.

Tariq Manzoor, a professor in the Department of Bangla at the university, told Prothom Alo that teacher evaluations should be conducted formally and with caution. Some information must be kept confidential; otherwise, it could create a distance between students and teachers.

He said teachers’ work is not limited only to taking classes. They are also involved in research and other activities. Such a survey, therefore, does not provide a complete idea about a teacher.

In 2000, the University of Dhaka had 47 departments. The number has now risen to 84. Over the past two decades, the number of institutes has increased from nine to 12. The number of regular students has grown from 22,500 to more than 37,000. The number of teachers has doubled to 2,015.

During the previous Awami League government, there were allegations that departments were opened one after another and teachers appointed to strengthen the party’s influence in teacher politics. Many teachers have also been accused of not pursuing their own studies, neglecting research and lacking teaching skills in the classroom.

Some teachers, meanwhile, have been accused of giving lower marks to students they disliked, higher marks to those they favoured, and harassing students. Students have limited opportunities to lodge complaints. There had therefore been demands for a system to evaluate teachers.

Ahead of the DUCSU election held on 9 September 2025, the United Students’ Alliance backed by Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir had included a pledge in their manifesto to make the teacher evaluation system more effective. Four days before its term ended, DUCSU launched a website for evaluating teachers. It is called ‘DU Evaluation’.

DUCSU executive member Umma Uswatun Rafia was actively involved in launching the website. She had contested the election as an independent candidate. DUCSU Vice-President Shadik Kayem and other leaders of the Shibir-backed panel were present at the website’s launch. DUCSU President and university Vice-Chancellor Professor ABM Obaidul Islam was not present though.

Umma Uswatun Rafia told Prothom Alo Sunday that the initiative was taken in response to demands from students of the university. She said she had approached the university administration over the past year to launch the website but did not receive sufficient support. She said the website would continue to operate despite objections from the administration.

DUCSU said a report would be prepared covering teachers from all departments of the University of Dhaka based on three months of evaluations and feedback. The report would then be submitted to the university administration.

DUCSU’s stipulated one-year term ends today, Monday. According to its constitution, if an election is not held within the stipulated time, the term will be extended by three months.

A visit to the website created by DUCSU showed that several specific criteria have been set for evaluating teachers. These include course structure and syllabus, teaching methods, communication and cooperation with students, examinations and assessment, professionalism, and overall satisfaction.

Students are also given the opportunity to provide feedback on whether teachers explain lessons clearly, encourage students to ask questions and participate in discussions, treat them respectfully, and hold classes regularly and on time.

Students from all batches at the University of Dhaka from the 2018–19 academic year onwards can evaluate teachers on the website. To take part in the evaluation, students have to register using their academic email addresses. They can evaluate teachers from their own departments only.

DUCSU members said the identities of those submitting evaluations are being kept completely confidential. However, teachers’ identities and names could be viewed. More than 6,500 university students have submitted over 11,000 evaluations. A student can evaluate multiple teachers.

DUCSU General Secretary (GS) SM Farhad told Prothom Alo, “None of the evaluations on the website is final. We announced from the outset that it is still in the development and testing stage.” He said they had been compelled to take the initiative. If the university introduces its own teacher evaluation system, they will shut down the website.

One of the teachers facing trolling is Shehreen Amin Bhuiyan Monami, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration. Her rating was 1.49 out of 5 until Saturday evening. The score spread online. Later, another photo card circulated showing her score as 1.83.

Shehrin Amin wrote a lengthy post on Facebook on Saturday about the issue. She said she had no objection to teacher evaluations. Having taught at North South University, she had gone through such evaluations many times. She raised several questions.

Her first question was that how can an impartial evaluation be conducted at the Universiy of Dhaka, where politics is deeply embedded in every aspect of university life? Who will ensure that all students evaluate teachers without bias? Her second question was that how can the evaluation be considered accurate and representative when many students have not taken part in the evluation?

Shehrin Amin also wrote that, despite these concerns, she welcomed the initiative by the Shibir-backed DUCSU panel. However, launching the website abruptly without properly developing it could lead to various “issues”, she said.

Although the website stopped displaying individual teachers’ ratings yesterday, an overall picture was still available. Of the 816 teachers who had received more than five evaluations by 4:00 pm, 347 had ratings between 4 and 5. Another 205 teachers had ratings between 3 and 4, wh0ile 155 had ratings between 2 and 3. A total of 109 teachers had ratings below 2.

The university administration had raised objections immediately after the DUCSU website was launched. Teachers are also enraged. Speaking to ten teachers who follow different political parties and ideologies, it was found that they had discussed the issue among themselves, with most expressing enrage. Some said the system has been introduced to humiliate teachers.

Teachers have also questioned which students are evaluating them. In their view, would it be reasonable for a student who does not regularly attend classes to evaluate a teacher? A student does not take courses taught by all teachers. Therefore, it is not appropriate to give a student the opportunity to evaluate all the teachers in a department.

Kazi Mohammad Mahbobor Rahman, acting dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Dhaka and a professor in the Department of Political Science, said there is a ‘standard practice’ for teacher evaluations around the world.

He told Prothom Alo that at universities in different parts of the world, the results of teacher evaluations can generally be viewed by the teacher, dean or university authorities; they are not made available to students or the general public.

Teachers said that a survey form for teacher evaluations was prepared as part of an initiative by the university’s Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), and the survey also contains instructions making it mandatory for students to participate. The process could not be restarted because of the change in government and subsequent changes in the university administration.

In 2022, under the leadership of former Vice-Chancellor Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, the University of Dhaka formulated its first policy on teacher evaluations. Later, in 2024, a website called the Learning Management System (LMS) was also developed as part of the system. Students could evaluate teachers there after meeting several conditions.

According to information from the university’s ICT Cell, teacher evaluations had been introduced in at least 14 departments at the beginning of 2024. The system was scheduled to be launched simultaneously in all 84 departments in September 2024, but that did not happen.

Teacher and researcher Asif Bin Ali views the introduction of the teacher evaluation system by DUCSU as a political ‘stunt’. He told Prothom Alo that it was essentially a display of the student leaders’ power, sending a message that they could do many things if they wanted to.

He said that if the purpose of the evaluations had been to improve standards, they would have been conducted through a proper process. There are examples of such practices as well. In such evaluations, professional and informational confidentiality is maintained, and the evaluations are used for teachers’ professional development.

According to Asif Bin Ali, teacher evaluations are certainly necessary. However, they must be conducted within an academic process and with due respect for teachers. There are accepted methods for evaluating teachers, and the university itself should take responsibility for implementing them.

Private universities in the country have teacher evaluation systems. At North South University, for example, it is mandatory for students to evaluate their teachers at the end of a course. However, only the teacher concerned and the university authorities can see the scores received by a teacher.

Mahbubur Rahman, a professor of political science at North South University, told Prothom Alo that teacher evaluation is part of international practice and serves as a tool for improving the quality of higher education.

Nadim Mahmud, a researcher in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, told Prothom Alo that teachers there are initially appointed for a fixed term. At the end of that term, student evaluations are among the factors considered in deciding whether to reappoint them. He said such evaluations are not organised by the student union, and the results are not made public.

At the University of Malaya in Malaysia, students are required to complete a lengthy evaluation form at the end of a course. They provide feedback on teachers on various aspects. Mohammad Ershadul Karim, an associate professor in the university’s Faculty of Law and Emerging Technologies, told Prothom Alo, “Even my colleagues cannot find out what score I received in the evaluation.”

In the two years since the July 2024 mass uprising, there have been increasing instances of action being taken against teachers at various public universities across the country, investigation committees being formed and lists of accused teachers being prepared.

Most recently, investigation committees have been formed at several universities to identify teachers allegedly involved in ‘secret activities’ to facilitate the return of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to the country.

According to allegations published in various media outlets, 404 teachers from 22 public universities across the country are claimed to have been involved in such activities. Sources in the university administration said that over the past two years, various measures have been taken against at least 32 teachers at the University of Dhaka, including barring them from academic and administrative responsibilities.

In addition, a section of teachers has demanded action against 231 teachers belonging to the Blue Panel, the organisation of pro-Awami League teachers at the University of University. The university authorities also formed a three-member committee on 13 August to investigate allegations against teachers of being involved in ‘secret activities’.

An initiative has also been taken to review whether there were any irregularities in teacher recruitment at the University of Dhaka over the 15-year period from 1 January 2009 to June 2024. Another committee has been formed for this purpose.

There are divisions among university teachers over these initiatives and activities. However, while speaking, teachers said that almost all teachers object to DUCSU’s website for evaluating teachers.

Professor Mohammed Almujaddade Alfasane, pro-vice-chancellor (administration) of the University of Dhaka, told Prothom Alo, “We support teacher evaluations, but DUCSU will not conduct them. It is not within DUCSU’s jurisdiction.”

He said, “We are committed to maintaining discipline within the university administration and protecting the dignity of teachers. At the same time, we are also putting in place a system through which students can properly express their views. From the 2026–27 academic year, students at the University of Dhaka will be able to evaluate their teachers.”

Professor Almujaddade said, “DUCSU’s initiative has created a strong reaction among teachers. Many teachers are bringing their complaints to us; they are informing us verbally, calling us on the phone and coming to meet us in person. It has created a huge opportunity for teachers to be socially humiliated.”