United News of Bangladesh

Academic life at Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia is facing a severe crisis as fifteen departments struggle with a critical shortage of teachers, leaving students with limited access to quality education and practical training. According to the Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), IU currently has only 406 teachers, less than half of the sanctioned 1,080 faculty positions. The shortage of 674 instructors has forced some departments to operate with just two or three faculty members handling multiple courses, a situation that clearly violates University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines on teaching workload. 141 IU teachers, students selected for UGC research projects Departments most affected include Fine Arts, Political Science, Pharmacy, Marketing and Communication and Multimedia Journalism. With six to seven student batches in each department, many students are forced to rely on teachers borrowed from unrelated disciplines, compromising both subject expertise and practical learning opportunities. Earlier this year, IU authorities announced the creation of 59 new teaching positions across 21 departments to ease the crisis. The recruitment process, however, stalled after it was discovered that appointment circulars had been issued without securing prior financial clearance from the UGC. Ultimately, only six positions were approved—a fraction of what had been promised, sparking widespread frustration among students and faculty alike. Talking to UNB, Acting Registrar Professor M Monjurul Haque acknowledged the severity of the situation, saying the administration is actively seeking further approvals from the UGC. IU-15 students harassed by a female student IU Treasurer Prof M Jahangir Alam admitted that the recruitment circulars were issued ‘without due financial clearance’, while Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof M Yeaqub Ali claimed he was ‘not consulted’ on the decision, highlighting apparent disarray within the university’s top leadership. Faculty members and student leaders have jointly demanded urgent recruitment, warning that continued inaction will degrade academic standards and could even jeopardise the university’s accreditation. “If this situation persists, our degrees will lose their value both nationally and internationally in the job market,” said a final-year Pharmacy student, who wished to remain anonymous. “We are being pushed through the system without receiving genuine education.” The UGC has yet to issue a public statement on the matter. Meanwhile, students at the IU fear they are becoming victims of institutional neglect. With classrooms understaffed and essential courses left untaught, the future of one of Bangladesh’s leading public universities is at risk --trapped between bureaucratic delays and the urgent needs of its students, they said.    

Academic activities at Khagrachhari Ramgarh Government Boys High School are being hampered seriously due to manifold problems, including crisis of teachers. The posts of headmaster and assistant headmaster have been lying vacant for long, disrupting academic activities. Only 15 teachers are available at the school while there is a need for 27 teachers to ensure lessons of 700 students. As a result, providing lessons to the students in the many subjects in most cases become quite difficult. Six posts of assistant teachers in English and Bengali are lying vacant and only two teachers are struggling a lot to provide proper lessons to the students. Read: Language movement hero Dhirendranath Datta's home awaits follow up on assurances Besides, there is no teacher in mathematics, threatening a risk in the future of the students. Talking to the acting headmaster of the school, Abdul Quader, said “We have informed the matter of teacher shortage to the Director General of the Department of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) but no steps has been taken yet to recruit a teacher.”  If the situation persists for long then it will be difficult to provide good lessons to the students, he said. Meanwhile, the local administration did not take any steps to ensure security as some drug addicts often entered the premises, creating panic among the students. Harunur Rashid, an assistant teacher of Bangla, said it is so difficult to run the classes with one teacher as there are no other teachers in this subject. Read: Re-excavation of canals giving new hope to Cumilla residents Expressing concern over the overall educational activities, Belal Hossain, a guardian said “Most of the guardians of the region are so much concerned over the future of their children as they are not able to sent to their children outside the district for education purpose due to financial crisis. Biswa Pradeep Kumar, Chairman of Ramgarh Upazila, said “Necessary steps will be taken to recruit more teachers at the school as well as resolve other problems.”

Academic activities at two Bagerhat government high schools – one is a century-old one while another in its seventh decade – are being severely hampered because of the shortage of teachers.