I don't have the expertise to comment on the overall scope of the proposed law, but I would like to comment on a particular aspect of the proposed umbrella act. Please note that my comment is based on the information that I got from different media reports on the proposed law. The issue is the appointment of teachers at the entry level.

It is proposed in the new law that there will be no direct appointment of lecturers. This is a good idea. Under the new system, a candidate will be appointed as "Research Assistant (RA)." After confirmation of the job as RA, he will be appointed as "Lecturer." The chairman of the UGC said that teachers have been appointed directly only in Bangladesh. He also said that teachers are appointed first as "Research Assistant" in Sri Lanka.

This new proposal is erroneous in the sense that it fails to take into account the nature of public universities in Bangladesh, where the majority of them are "Teaching Universities." Except for some technical universities, most others do not have the resource or infrastructure to develop into "Research Universities." The position of RA will be of no use under the present situation in the public universities.

There should be sufficient research projects in the universities, in which the senior professors will lead and the newly appointed research assistants will work in a scholarly environment. The senior professors will not only work as "mentors" of the RAs, but will also ensure the quality of the research and its academic implication, in the sense that the research output will be used in preparing different course modules.

Students will be taught by using the research findings produced in the departments. In some cases senior students will also be part of the research project, depending on their research interests. Do we have such an academic opportunity in the public universities in Bangladesh?

Moreover, Sri Lanka cannot be the ideal case for us. I hope that the experts at the UGC will review entry-level appointment in a number of universities in Asia, Europe and North America. Considering a South Asian case as an exemplar is not a wise decision. Instead of "Research Assistant" why don't we think about "Teaching Assistant?"

I can mention here the National University of Singapore (NUS) as an Asian case. Apart from the direct appointment of assistant professor (with PhD and scholarly publications as mandatory conditions), NUS recruits its brilliant students as "Teaching Assistant (TA)." The newly appointed TAs work under different professors who teach undergrad and grad courses. In the meantime, they have to apply for higher studies (preferably PhD) in different universities in Europe and North America.

After finishing PhD, they return to the university (which is mandatory, following a contract between the TA and the university) and join as Assistant Professor. However, this is not their tenured position. They are appointed as assistant professor for a period of six years, and after fulfilling conditions regarding teaching, research, and scholarly publications, they will be given the tenured position and be promoted to associate professor.

There is another problem with the idea of TA. Under the present teaching and grading system, there is no work for a TA. What will they do once appointed as TA? Is it that they will just work as assistants of the professors without having any job description? If yes, then it will create a formal patron-client relationship in the public universities (some critics say that it is already present our universities on an informal basis).

There should be reform of the present teaching and grading system to accommodate the role of TA. The UGC can review the practices of universities in other parts of the world to get an idea for involving TAs in the teaching and grading system.

Why don't we think about direct appointment as assistant professor, with a PhD as mandatory qualification? (We know that there is a huge number of professors in public universities without any degree, apart from their basic MA degree obtained from home universities, although they supervise MA and PhD research. This is possible only in Bangladesh).

Can we make assistant professor as the entry-level appointment? This is the norm that is followed by the majority of universities in Europe and North America. And there should not be any tenured job at the entry level. Assistant professors will be hired on a contract basis, initially for two years.

Upon successful completion of the initial period, their contracts will be renegotiated, and if satisfactory then that will be extended for another two to four years. This will continue for not more than six years, and during this period the person will do scholarly publication, research (provided that there is enough research funding for them), and improve the capacity of teaching.

However, to ensure transparency and accountability, we first need a policy to absorb all these new issues in the old framework. Under the present corrupt system, who will ensure that the qualified candidates have been considered for tenure? I am afraid that this would create another problem in the universities, maybe another source of politics, like the case of the recruitment of residential teachers in different dormitories.

I expect that the UGC will consider the entry-level appointment very seriously, and that they (under the leadership of the newly appointed chairman) will consult with our senior professors and educationists who have vast experience of the issue.

I am not confident that the UGC -- as an institution with a chairman and some members -- is capable enough to perform such a huge task without taking help from others, at least voluntarily. I am sure that our educationists will be happy to contribute in this nation-making project.

This law, as its name suggests, is huge and needs thorough consultation. We do not need any external consultant to do the job. The EC hires foreign consultants, who do not have any expertise, for preparing voters' list. The funny logic given by the CEC is that we do not have the technical expertise to do that job.

If the government and the UGC want to do something, keeping in mind the long-term improvement of our university education, it will require rethinking the entire issue with great attention and rigorous study. We have to keep in mind that the proposed law will have serious impact if it is not properly designed. I urge the UGC to consult with our educationists before finalizing anything.

Omar Mohamed is a graduate student at the University of Toronto.