MARCH 29, 2017: DAILY SUN
In every country and every society of this world the university teachers are considered as the beacon of knowledge, conscience of a nation and the power house of wisdom. They are also considered as the symbol of honesty, trustworthiness and they always favour strongly all kinds of efforts in upholding moral and ethical values.
Education is on of the basic human rights. None has the right to create hindrances against other’s right to get proper education according to his or her ability. All basic needs or rights must have availability and easy access. In today’s IT and knowledge based world education is almost like the oxygen without which no living creatures could remain alive.
To become a university teacher is highly prestigious. They are respected by every quarter of a society. They have also comparatively easy access to all over the world as getting visa for any country is comparatively easy for them. This is also very easy for a university teacher to get scholarship from reputed foreign universities. They have a huge scope to earn money by doing consultancy and part-time teaching at various private universities. Moreover as an intellectual by status they are honoured by the government, all governmental and nongovernmental organisations. They are also given first priority in getting various facilities, privileges and services from many other places.
As we know, professors at the university level are qualified experts in their field who generally perform some or all the tasks that include managing teaching, research and publications in their departments, doing lectures and seminars in their specialties, performing, leading and publishing advanced original research in the recognised journals in their fields, providing community service, including consulting functions, such as advising government and non-profit organisations or providing expert commentary on TV or radio news or public affairs programs, mentoring graduate students in their academic training, conducting administrative or managerial functions, usually at a high level such as deans, heads of departments, librarians, etc. and assessing students in their fields of expertise through examinations or viva voce defences and many more.
There have always been some crucial posts where there is no room for making any compromise with quality, eligibility and efficiency. For example, we do not appoint a less experienced person as a pilot, we cannot appoint a deaf person in a call centre or a flight control tower, we cannot appoint a blind man as a driver, we cannot appoint a robber as a security guard and we cannot appoint a woman as a night guard. If so happened then there must be inevitable and disastrous consequences.
The recent TIB (Transparency International Bangladesh) research findings have revealed some alarming facts which undoubtedly indicate a severe scenario in the higher education sector of the country. This research paper was based on data collected from 17 public universities out of total 37. It shows that in the process of selection and appointment of a lecturer a huge amount of money is transacted and at the same time additional candidates are appointed out of vacant posts mentioned in the advertisement. In some universities Taka 3-20 lakhs are taken as bribe from each of the candidates to appoint him or her as a lecturer. Moreover, before appointment some unnecessary posts are created influenced and pressured by the highly influential power. All of those activities are controlled by VC or Pro VC who are also appointed from political consideration rather than merit or seniority.
In some cases students (candidates) are given extra marks unfairly in order to make it easy to appoint the favourite student as a future lecturer. In this case the faculty members take huge money from the student and also engage those students for doing their personal works. Here the most alarming matter is that some teachers offer female students for making unethical relationship with them in order to become a lecturer or getting good marks in the exam. Candidates also take an easy but costly chance to make their dream of being a lecturer of a public university. Most of those appointments are also influenced by strong political recommendations. Moreover in order to win the syndicate election many departments are created out of a single department and appoint more teachers without considering merit or eligibilities.
Researchers have also found that a teacher, in some cases, ask the candidates to repay his or her debt so that they could be benefited mutually.
Ironically as the outcome of these circumstances of the public universities, the private universities on the other hand, are getting more qualified teaches. Many qualified and bright students who were deprived of being a lecturer of a public university despite their eligibility are joining at the private universities. Moreover many leading private universities do not compromise with the quality and eligibility in appointing a teacher.
Those are the major scenario in appointing lecturer at the public universities. If those are the reality then what we might expect from those lecturers who were appointed in exchange of bribe, political influence or creating unethical relationship with the teachers. Might there be any confidence in their mind to create moral and ethical values in their students? How they could teach honesty and trustworthiness among their students? How they could be the conscience of a nation? How they could be the beacon or a power house of knowledge? How much they could show the nation a right path during a crisis?
Similarly in most other cases some ineligible, dishonest, greedy and less qualified people are taking control of every responsible, vital post and also taking all crucial decisions. Honest people are critically marginalised and they are frequently being blackmailed morally and emotionally. Every national and constitutional institution has been corrupted severely. To them morality and upholding principles is considered as an obsolete matter and old fashioned. As a result we are watching unexpected and unprecedented outcome everywhere in our county as well as all over the world. The most unfortunate matter is that the education, especially the higher education which is the backbone of a nation is gradually going in the hand of some less meritorious and corrupt persons. But why we are not being able to stop those evil deeds that are ruining the pride and backbone of the nation?
Without upholding a minimum level of moral and ethical values, norms, transparency and fair procedures no nation could run through the steady path towards sustainable development. Greed for money and wealth takes a human being out of conscience. Sometimes they become unstoppable, arrogant, and reckless. But all the people of real conscience must be united to break this vicious cycle at any cost and it has to be started right now. Otherwise in the long run the public universities would not remain as a center of practicing knowledge, innovation, research, and high level of thinker and as a center of excellence.
© Copyright: Reserved by the writer (Noore Alam Siddiqui)
