Search Page

A study by Transparency International Bangladesh found secondary-level education activities, including recruitment of teachers and inclusion in the monthly pay order, plagued with widespread corruption and irregularities. To be appointed as assistant headmaster or headmaster, one needs to pay Tk 5,000 - 1 lakh bribe or Tk 3.5-15 lakh to be included in the monthly pay order. The study also found a lack of accountability in different administrative works of education officials who did not attend office in time and regularly.

Too many corrupt professors have infiltrated the idyllic garden of erudition. The University of Dhaka syndicate has penalized with demotion three teachers found guilty of plagiarism. A recent University Grants Commission investigation found the vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University and other officials guilty of manipulating the recruitment process in order to recruit 30 unqualified family members into teaching positions.

The rampant corruption and nepotism in appointing and promoting teachers at public universities of the country are alarming. Vice-chancellors or influential teachers use their political power to put pressure on selection committees and unions for the appointment of candidates of their choice as teachers, in violation of established standards, rules and regulations. To promote teachers based on merit at the 46 public universities, UGC submitted a draft policy to the education ministry spelling out the minimum qualifications for the appointment and promotion of public university teachers.

Academic fraud takes place in epic proportions in Bangladesh, from copying music to copying homework and buying readymade thesis. Contract cheating and plagiarism are not only widespread among students, but it is also practiced by some faculty members of Dhaka University. Also, there are many incidents of the student wing of political parties forcing professors to pass them in an exam after submitting a wrong answer script or without even appearing for it.

A Bangladeshi Member of Parliament, who holds one of the 50 seats reserved for women, was expelled from the university after hiring up to eight proxies to take her exams. According to the Open University's vice-chancellor, the MP’s registration has been canceled and she would not be allowed in any examination under the university again.