Students of Dhaka University’s Persian Language and Literature Department have urged the university authorities to reconsider a Syndicate decision barring a professor from academic and administrative duties, warning that it could disrupt five ongoing courses nearing completion.
The students want Prof Dr Mohammad Bahauddin to be allowed to complete the courses he is currently teaching, at least until the end of the ongoing semester.
Students from four batches submitted separate applications to the department chairman on 6 August, seeking a review of the decision on academic grounds.
They later met Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr ABM Obaidul Islam yesterday (10 August) and raised the issue with him.
Bahauddin was teaching five courses across the first, second and fourth years and the postgraduate programme.
Students said most classes and midterm examinations for the courses had already been completed under his supervision.
They argued that replacing him at this stage could create complications in completing the courses, setting examination questions and evaluating answer scripts.
Fourth-year student Tabassum Tanha Hridi told The Business Standard that students in each batch conducted an online poll before submitting their applications.
“Our courses are almost complete. If another teacher sets the questions or evaluates the answer scripts at this stage, the scripts may not be assessed according to the teaching approach followed by our teacher. That is why all students in the batch agreed that he should be allowed to complete the course this semester,” she said.
The students attached the results of the online polls to their applications and urged the university to allow Bahauddin to complete the ongoing courses even if the Syndicate’s decision remains in effect thereafter.
The department has also raised the matter with the university administration.
Department Chairman Associate Professor Dr Mumit Al Rashid told TBS today (11 August) that the department received written applications from students of the four batches on 6 August.
“The Syndicate is the university’s highest decision-making forum, and we fully respect its decision. However, considering the students’ demands, the Academic Committee unanimously sent a letter to the vice-chancellor,” he said.
The Academic Committee recommended that implementation of the decision be kept on hold until October, considering the students’ academic concerns and the department’s teacher shortage, he added.
Bahauddin was among four teachers whom the university’s Syndicate decided on 28 July to keep away from all academic and administrative responsibilities.
According to the university, the action against Bahauddin followed allegations of “various irregularities” in the department, as well as allegations of plagiarism involving similarities in his MPhil and PhD theses.
At the same meeting, the Syndicate decided to dismiss three teachers, including Sociology Department Professor Dr Sadeka Halim, and bar four others from academic and administrative duties over separate allegations.
Bahauddin previously served as joint convener of the pro-Awami League Blue Panel of teachers at the university and as chairman of the Persian Language and Literature Department.
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