72 teachers of Barishal University resign from admin posts

Academic and administrative activities at Barishal University have come to a near standstill following a shutdown programme enforced by teachers demanding promotions.

From yesterday to this afternoon, 72 teachers holding various administrative positions, including chairpersons of 25 departments, provosts and the proctor, resigned from their posts in protest.

Offices across the university, including the registrar’s office, remained locked, effectively paralysing operations over the last 48 hours.

Yesterday, the protesting teachers declared Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohammad Toufiq Alam as "unwelcome".

Teachers have been demonstrating since April 21, demanding promotions. They had temporarily withdrawn their programme for five days following assurances that the issue would be addressed at a syndicate meeting.

However, after the syndicate meeting on May 9 failed to meet their expectations, the teachers resumed their agitation and announced a complete shutdown from yesterday.

Associate Professor Abdul Baten Chowdhury of the Department of History said the issue must be resolved within the framework of the university’s existing regulations, otherwise the shutdown would continue indefinitely.

Associate Professor Dr Dhiman Kumar Roy, one of the protesting teachers, blamed the vice-chancellor for the crisis.

“We have declared the vice-chancellor unwelcome and will no longer cooperate with him administratively,” he said, alleging that despite six months having passed since the proposal for promotion boards, the administration had failed to take action.

Speaking to journalists on yesterday, Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohammad Toufiq Alam said all issues could be resolved through discussion and termed protests that disrupt students’ education “inappropriate”.

The 60 teachers seeking promotions claim that many became eligible nearly two years ago, but no promotions have been granted so far.

The vice-chancellor, however, said the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh had introduced a uniform promotion policy for all public universities. He said implementing the policy at Barishal University would require formulation and approval of statutes through the university syndicate and the UGC.

Barishal Divisional Commissioner Md Khalil Ahmed, who is also a syndicate member, said other universities had already completed the process of preparing statutes and securing UGC approval, while Barishal University had failed to do so.

He said discussions were underway to resolve the issue quickly and warned that delays in approving the statutes would ultimately affect the teachers themselves.

Students also voiced frustration over the suspension of classes and examinations, warning that the prolonged stalemate could lead to severe session delays.