After Half a Decade of Stagnation, RU Recruits 154 Teachers

After six long years of stagnation, Rajshahi University (RU) has finally completed the teacher recruitment process. The newly former Vice-Chancellor Professor Saleh Hasan Naqib oversaw the appointment of a total of 154 new teachers in 34 departments.

This initiative has created hope of ending the long-standing academic paralysis on campus. However, there is ongoing discussion and criticism regarding political influence in the recruitment process. Questions have also been raised about the transparency of the appointments.

Allegations have surfaced that supporters of a particular political party were given preference in these recruitments. During the process, accusations of nepotism and other irregularities were made. Protests, press conferences, and hunger strikes demanding cancellation of the recruitment also took place at different times.

However, the chairmen of various departments have outright rejected these allegations. According to the departmental heads, the recruitment process was completely transparent and selections were made purely on the basis of merit. They claim that no compromise was made in maintaining academic standards.

On this issue, the current Vice-Chancellor of RU, Professor Faridul Islam, recently told the media: “It is true that VC Dr. Saleh Hasan Naqib deliberately created an environment of fear on campus for the last 18 months to implement his own party agenda. Over 90 percent of the more than 200 teachers recruited in various departments belong to the active members of one particular political ideology. Doctors in the Medical Center and over a hundred fourth-class employees were also appointed from people affiliated with one political party. Whoever protested was threatened with job loss. These matters should be investigated.”

Earlier, the previous Vice-Chancellor Professor M. Abdus Sobhan faced allegations of relaxing teacher recruitment rules and appointing his own daughter and son-in-law as teachers through nepotism. After investigation proved the allegations true, the Ministry of Education imposed a ban on all types of appointments at the university through 12 separate notices on 10 and 13 December 2020.

Following the mass uprising of 2024, after Professor Saleh Hasan Naqib was appointed Vice-Chancellor, the ban on recruitment issued on 10 December 2020 was withdrawn at the request of the university authorities. Permission was granted to conduct all recruitment activities smoothly following the relevant rules and policies in the interest of maintaining academic and administrative functions. For the first time, a written test was introduced.

The teacher recruitment process began on 12 February 2025 with the viva board of the Physics Department. Subsequently, 154 teachers were appointed in 34 departments one after another. Among them: 7 in History, 6 in English, 3 in Persian Language and Literature, 3 in Urdu, 6 in Law and Land Administration, 4 in Mathematics, 7 in Physics, 4 in Chemistry, 4 in Applied Mathematics, 7 in Physical Education and Sports Science, 8 in Accounting and Information Systems, 8 in Social Work, 5 in Folklore and Social Development Studies, and 4 in International Relations.

Additionally, 8 were appointed in Crop Science and Technology, 3 in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 2 in Computer Science and Engineering, 4 in Information and Communication Engineering, 4 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 5 in Banking and Insurance, 3 in Economics, 6 in Geography and Environmental Science, 3 in Dramatics, 3 in Institute of English and Other Languages, 3 in Population Science and Human Resource Development, 2 in Psychology, 8 in Arabic, 4 in Statistics, 4 in Finance, 4 in Genetic Engineering and Technology, 1 in Institute of Bangladesh Studies, 5 in Islamic Studies, 2 in Music, and 4 in Painting, Oriental Art and Printmaking.

General students have expressed joy at receiving new teachers. They are hopeful that the long-standing teacher shortage, which was disrupting classes and research, will now be resolved. According to the students, the new teachers’ modern and quality teaching methods will play a helpful role in their academic development. Despite the controversies, concerned parties believe this recruitment decision will bring positive changes to the overall educational environment of the university.

To know how the recruitment was conducted, The Daily Campus spoke with Dr. A.N.K. Noman, Chairman of the Economics Department. He said the recruitment in the Economics Department was done with extremely high standards and through a completely transparent process. Highly meritorious candidates were appointed. There was no room for any lack of transparency. No one had the courage to bring any complaint regarding irregularities before or after the recruitment.

Claiming there was no room for lack of transparency, Professor M. Al-Baqi Barkatullah, Chairman of the Crop Science and Technology Department, said those appointed as teachers in his department were all first, second, or third in their respective departments. The recruitment was extremely transparent. Those who performed well in the written test were selected after viva. There was no opportunity for any irregularity.

Claiming it was the most transparent recruitment in the history of Rajshahi University, Professor Dr. F. Nazrul Islam, Chairman of the Physics Department, said: “After I became chairman, one appointment was made, and six during the previous chairman’s time. The seven new appointments under the current administration are assets to our department. We are very proud that we could appoint these brilliant students. Under this administration, all departments received appointments regardless of party or ideology, and this is the best transparent recruitment in the history of Rajshahi University.”

When asked about the written test questions, he said the questions were prepared shortly before the written examination. Subject experts created the questions after the board started, as per the Vice-Chancellor’s instructions. Even the teachers who checked the answer scripts did not know whose script they were evaluating because of the coding-decoding system. Therefore, there is no question about transparency. I do not know of any process more transparent than this.

Claiming that students have received extremely good teachers, Professor Dr. Dil-Ara Hossain, Chairman of the Accounting and Information Systems Department, said: “After 12/13 long years, recruitment has taken place in my department. Those who have become teachers are all qualified. They were also excellent students. We and our students are all satisfied with their appointment. They have already started taking classes and the feedback I am receiving from students is very positive.”

Regarding transparency, she said some policy changes were made for this recruitment. Personally, I believe that if someone has good general knowledge on any subject while appearing for the test, they will emerge successful. Those who perform well in written and viva will get appointed. The process was completed through several stages. So I do not actually know how much room there is for nepotism, and I have not received any complaint of irregularity in this recruitment process.

Stating that the recruitment was done with the highest transparency in the department’s history, Professor Dr. Md. Latifur Rahman Sarkar, Chairman of the Geography and Environmental Science Department, said: “This is the most transparent recruitment our department has ever had. We appointed 6 people, all of whom secured first position in both Honors and Masters. Not only me, but all teachers in our department are extremely satisfied with this recruitment. We worked with great transparency at every stage. Such good recruitment has never happened in our department before.”

Regarding the overall matter, the recently departed Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Saleh Hasan Naqib said: “When we took charge, we saw that many departments had a huge shortage of teachers. First, we focused on how much we could improve the recruitment policy. Because previously, due to weak policies, unqualified people were appointed based on political consideration. So we first reformed the recruitment policy. We did not ask any department to recruit teachers on our own initiative. They informed us about their shortages, and then we made appointments according to the new policy.”

He said when we started recruitment, we saw that most departments had over 100 candidates. In such a situation, taking viva voce of everyone was impossible. So we decided to take a written test. There was a very clear method for the written test. Subject experts who came to the board set the questions. They were told which topics to prepare questions on. There was no opportunity to bring pre-prepared questions. Those who set the questions also checked the scripts. There was a coding-decoding system for every script, so those checking could not know whose paper they were evaluating.

He further said many departments were running five batches with only 3-4 teachers, which was virtually impossible. It was a kind of deadlock. In that situation, we managed to appoint nearly one and a half hundred teachers across various departments. The deadlock has certainly been eased to some extent. Whatever people say, I was present in every board. I did not appoint a single candidate in any board based on political consideration. Recommendations came from top levels of NCP, BNP, and Jamaat, but I did not pay heed to anyone. Only the meritorious ones were appointed.