State Minister of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education of Bangladesh Bobby Hajjaj recently questioned the quality of Dhaka University, complaining that most of the research done by the associates of Dhaka University are highly plagiarized and lack even minimal quality.
In addition, the minister compared North South University and BRAC University, two of the best private universities in Bangladesh, as far better academic institutions.
Given the fact that the minister himself is a faculty member of North South University, the students and teachers of Dhaka University have reacted strongly to such statements.
In the face of intense controversy, the minister has already withdrawn his statement; however, the discussion has yet to conclude.
The debate has taken an interesting turn, mostly focused on whether Dhaka University as an institution is truly better than the other two private universities.
Social media has been flooded with numerous statistics comparing the overall university rankings, the total number of published research articles by these universities within previous academic years, and other qualitative factors.
However, one important fact that everyone is missing is why Dhaka University as an institution should take the blame in the first place.
As a former student of Dhaka University, I might not fully agree with the statement that the minister has made. Unlike most public universities in Bangladesh, Dhaka University truly stands with a unique integration of its history and quality education, which still ranks it as the top university in the country in global rankings such as QS and Times Higher Education. With a 2-3% acceptance rate in admission tests, this university still stands as one of the finest higher education institutions in the country.
Nevertheless, even if we give the benefit of the doubt to the minister’s statement and, for a fraction of a second, accept his verdict, a major concern still arises: Who truly is to blame for the decline in quality of public universities of Bangladesh?
Unlike private universities, public universities depend solely on government funding. As private universities depend mostly on tuition fees paid by students, the university authorities fall under the obligation of ensuring a proper academic atmosphere within the institution.
In order to do so, they ensure teacher recruitment based strictly on credentials and merit and maintain a proper teacher evaluation system.
As students in private universities pay for their education, quality education is expected to be ensured. However, in public universities of Bangladesh, teacher recruitment has often been accused of being heavily influenced by politics.
Candidates with better credentials and results are frequently overlooked by recruitment boards, while others with political affiliations and backing secure faculty positions.
This extreme politicization has been a common practice for years. Thus, many public university teachers truly lack quality compared to their counterparts in private universities in Bangladesh.
Now, another question arises: Who are the recruiters on these teacher recruitment boards?
In most cases, the recruitment process is run by the top administrative body, consisting of the vice chancellor, pro-vice chancellor, deans of the faculties, and chairpersons of the departments.
Such positions in public universities have historically been appointed through the direct influence of the government. During the last regime, every vice chancellor, pro-vice chancellor, and dean of several faculties at Dhaka University were directly affiliated with the teacher’s group that actively and publicly upheld the political ideology of the Bangladesh Awami League.
Nevertheless, in light of the July Uprising of 2024 and the political shift in Bangladesh following the election of 2026, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) formed the government. Right after taking charge, the government made changes to multiple administrative roles within many public universities.
Unsurprisingly, all VC and Pro-VC positions were now offered to those representing the teachers’ group that upholds the political ideology of the BNP. Dhaka University was no exception.
Not only this, mainstream media reports indicated that nearly 20 public universities have undergone administrative changes since the current government took office.
The majority of these key administrative positions have been systematically offered to teachers who previously maintained active affiliations with the BNP.
Connecting the dots, the entire faculty recruitment system in public universities has historically been manipulated.
Universities that allow politically influenced recruitment in both administrative positions and faculty appointments are far less likely to perform well academically.
The blame must be borne by the government, and the minister himself is an integral part of this decision-making body.
Another vital point is the difference of allowing student politics between public and private universities in this country. Private universities in Bangladesh have consistently prohibited any form of student politics on their campuses, neither any student political group has ever publicly challenged or filed legal petitions against these policies.
The governing Boards of Trustees, composed of influential figures, ensure that political interference is not permitted. The underlying reason is clear: Political groups and university administrations understand that allowing partisan activities would compromise the academic environment.
However, public universities present a different scenario. These government-funded universities do not have the same structural independence as private universities due to their heavily politicized appointments.
As a result, student political organizations find easy access to public universities, disrupting the academic environment on a frequent basis.
The turmoil within public universities caused by student politics has claimed numerous lives over the decades; however, successive governments have rarely appeared concerned about such disruptions. Instead, they have often treated these student political wings as partisan militia serving their political interests.
Although the minister’s statement is itself fallacious, as all major rankings and quality indicators still place Dhaka University as the leading educational institution in Bangladesh, the controversy has raised a more important question than whether one university is better than another.
If there is indeed a decline in the academic integrity of public universities, the responsibility cannot be placed solely on the institutions themselves.
Even if we accept his accusation regarding the degradation of the overall quality of Dhaka University, the cabinet member of the government should be the first person to take the blame.
ASM Kamrul Islam is a lecturer at the Green University of Bangladesh, where he also coordinates the Centre of Teaching and Learning (CETL). Views expressed are the writer’s own.