No on-campus housing for 77pc public university teachers
Public university teachers are facing acute shortage of residential facilities as 77 per cent of them are deprived of on-campus housing that hampers research and academic activities.
According to the latest University Grants Commission annual report submitted to parliament on February 12, 77 per cent teachers do not have on-campus residential facilities.
Commission officials said that 75 per cent teachers were out of the facilities in 2011.
Provosts and house tutors are worst sufferers of the absence of on-campus housing as they cannot make quick response to any emergency.
Teachers living out of campuses need spend handsome amount of money and time for travel to and from universities, the commission officials said.
Many teachers alleged they had to join ‘teacher politics’ to get allotment of apartment on the campus as normally teachers having ‘better connection with ruling party-backed teacher organisation got the residential facilities.
Commission chairman Abdul Mannan, public university vice-chancellors association University Council
chairman Md Alauddin and Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Associations president Farid Uddin Ahmed said that the absence of on-campus residential facilities was hampering research at the universities and teachers’ interaction with students.
They all blamed less government investment for the acute shortage of on-campus residential facilities.
‘We are aware of the shortage of residential facilities for the public university teachers. We have increased the facilities but universities and
teachers have also increased,’ Abdul Mannan said.
‘Universities in Dhaka, Chittagong and other important cities are worst sufferer of the absence of on-campus residential facilities,’ he said.
‘In many places teachers do not want to stay at the apartments on the campus as their house rent allowance is deducted from the salary,’ he said.
Teachers said that they did not want to live in university apartments as most of the apartments were small but authorities deducted the entire house rent allowances.
The commission’s annual report of 2015 said that 23 per cent of 12,531 teachers at 34 public universities, excluding National University and Open University, had access to on-campus residential facilities.
There are no residential facilities for 157 teachers of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, 152 teachers of Bangladesh University of Professionals and 95
teachers of Barisal University.
Only four of the 555 teachers of Jagannath University, five of the 458 teachers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, 14 of the 488 teachers of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, 15 of the 396 teachers of Khulna University
have on campus residential facilities, the report said.
Commission officials said that 25 per cent of 9,871 teachers at 32 public universities, excluding National and Open universities, had on campus residential facilities.
Teachers said that on-campus living of teachers offered numerous benefits to teachers and students including convenience, opportunities to develop teacher-student interaction, research and the use of library and laboratories that fosters the educational and personal growth of students.
Fariduddin said that teachers needed to spend handsome amount of money and time for travel to and from universities that hampers regular classroom activities.
‘As the teachers who live out of the campus do not spend more time on the campus, it hampers their and students’ research activities that eventually call falling of education quality,’ said Fariduddin also a Dhaka University economics professor said.
Proctorial body members of the university, provosts and house tutors of the residential halls need to stay on the campus for 24 hours. When they live outside of the campus, they cannot act quickly, said Alauddin, also vice-chancellor of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University.
Several teachers of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chittagong universities alleged that teachers having connection with ruling party-backed teacher organisation get advantages for getting allotment of houses.
Alauddin and Farid Uddin denied the allegation saying that all teachers got equal opportunity.
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