Stay away from graft, irregularities
President Abdul Hamid yesterday urged the vice-chancellors of public universities to perform their duties with dedication and honesty and stay away from corruption and irregularities.
“Vice-chancellors are the chief executives of universities. You have to prove your honesty, sincerity and skills while carrying out your duties. What will be the condition of the universities if you allow irregularities or get involved in corruption?” he asked the VCs.
The president was addressing the first convocation of Jagannath University at the capital’s Dhupkhola playground.
Hamid, also the chancellor of the university, called upon the teachers to uphold the dignity of their profession without being attracted to any kind of greed.
“You could join any other lucrative job or hold positions if you had wanted. But instead of doing that, you chose teaching as a career. Therefore, you should uphold the dignity of the profession without being attracted to any kind of greed or lure. Only then the students will consider you as their ideal.”
He said some teachers use the university job as a shield. “They spend busy hours in weeklong evening courses and taking classes at private universities. They are very sincere in all these activities.”
On the other hand, the same teachers are very reluctant to taking their scheduled classes, the president said.
“These teachers are also very serious about completing the syllabus. So, they take classes for three to five hours continuously. Sometimes, even on the weekends, students are called to attend classes for several hours together without bothering about how much they understand.”
Hamid also urged the VCs to look into the matter strictly. The academic programmes of the universities must be monitored to ensure that those were being administered properly, he added.
Mentioning that the major portion of the total expenditures of public universities comes from the national exchequer, he said, “You must give the highest priority to the responsibilities of that university where you work.”
Terming VCs and teachers the main driving force in running a university, the president said each public university has its own law. Therefore, they must be respectful to the law and abide by that, he added.
Noted physicist Prof Emeritus Dr Arun Kumar Basak delivered speech as the convocation speaker. A total of 18,300 graduates and post-graduates were conferred upon degrees at the convocation ceremony.
Education Minister Dipu Moni and JnU VC Prof Mijanur Rahman also spoke on the occasion.
The Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad, cabinet members, lawmakers, VCs of different universities, and senior civil and military officials, among others, were present.
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