Unwarranted unrest in the highest seats of learning

 Abdul Mannan, Chairman of the UGC

Suddenly the highest seats of learning, the universities, both in the public and the private sector have become restive resulting in the uncertain future of millions of students studying in these universities. Unrest in public universities is not new. There are regular gun battles in many of the campuses of public universities amongst thugs in the name of student politics for establishing supremacy on the campus.  These days even teacher strikes protesting the irregular activities of some Vice-chancellors also results in suspension of academic activities. In some universities teachers often resort to strikes because they want the removal of their Vice-chancellors alleging corruption and nepotism against them. Sometimes some of these allegations are framed on flimsy grounds and the targeted Vice-chancellors are debarred from discharging their regular duties resulting in the total disruption of administrative and academic matters.

Such actions cause misery not only to students but also to a greater section of teachers themselves.  Vice-chancellors, Pro-vice Chancellors and Treasures both in the public and private sectors are appointed by the President of the Republic who is also the Chancellor. It is his prerogative whom he will appoint or remove. Even one private university removed one such appointed person by order of the Board of Trustee which by any standard is audacious and unacceptable. They virtually challenged the authority of the President of the Republic. Some Boards knowingly or unknowingly often cross their limits set by the law under which they operate. They attempt to create a state within a state. This affects the entire sector. However most of the time they tend to get away as they have strong connection with powerful people in all governments. The current simmering unrest was created when the new pay-scale was announced by the government and a 7.5% VAT imposed on the tuition fees of the students studying in the private universities.

Announcement of new pay scales are always awaited by the people working for the government.  Such announcement brings some respite to the servants of the Republic most of whom, especially those working in the lower rung, always find it difficult to make two ends meet. Not that a new pay scale will solve all the financial woes across the board but it is expected that it will give some breathing space to most of the employees of the state. Historically, from the time of Bangabandhu government all Awami League led government was generous enough to announce a new pay scale even before anyone asked for it. This time it was no exception. It formed a Pay Commission under the leadership of seasoned and former able and competent bureaucrat Dr. Mohammad Farashuddin, onetime Personal Secretary to Bangabandhu and a person who is highly regarded by the Prime Minister. The new Commission after consulting all the stakeholders and doing some tedious homework proposed a sixteen scale grade. The committee did not propose who should be placed at what grade but when it was sent to the Secretary level committee they added four more grades, which by many is seen as benefiting the bureaucrats only. Beyond twenty scales they also proposed separate pay-scale for Principal Secretary and Cabinet Secretary, Senior Secretaries including Secretaries posted in some particular ministries or positions. On top of that, it was also recommended that the Time Scale and Selection Grade also be removed from the new scale. Earlier the university professors were entitled to both the benefits.

Due to such a proposal the University Professors have been relegated few steps behind the secretaries which, as expected, no university teachers have taken it in good earnest. Earlier, all university Professors and Secretaries were grouped together in one scale. Under the proposed scale the Professors will be below the rank of the Secretaries. Practically all the bureaucrats serving the government were one time students either of colleges or universities. The teachers with many of whom I tried to talk said it was a deliberate attempt by some of the bureaucrats to demean them and some even went a bit further saying that some of these bureaucrats once wanted to become university teachers in their early life and not being able to get a berth in the teaching profession now have grinded their axe against them. This may or may not be true but the fact is that the Secretary Committee recommendations on the Pay Scale have created a widespread discontent not only among the university teachers but also among other rank and file of the government servants.

The university teachers have already protested the proposed new scale and the attempt to demean them through forceful relegation and have resorted to abstention from work for few hours every week. They have also announced that if their demands are not met they will go on continuous abstention. Their concern is not how much pay they will get under the new pay scale but about their relegation below the rank of a Secretary. They do not have any strong resentment about how much pay the bureaucrats will be taking home but on where they stand in the rank compared to the bureaucrats. The BCS association have already met the Finance Minister and explained the anomalies in the proposed Secretary-level Committee and how the new proposed pay-scale will be discriminatory for them.

The good thing is that the Finance Minister has assured them that he will review the matter and may come up with a solution that will be acceptable to all.  The Prime Minister’s Office also sent a message to the Finance Minister that it is the desire of the Prime Minister that the new pay-scale should not create any sort of big discontent in the rank and file of the government servants. It is irony that when the government has a big cabinet, where many of the members are quite competent, at times when there is some kind of crisis or discontent in any section of the society they all look up to the Prime Minister for a solution. So far the Prime Minister has not disappointed them. The new pay scale is expected to be tabled before the cabinet early next week. According to some media reports the approved pay scale may to a great extent fulfil the desire of all stakeholders as per the desire of Prime Minister. The government at present has no major problem on its hand so why create an unnecessary one?

According to the new budget the private university students will have to pay a 7.5% VAT on their tuition fees, something unique by any standard. In India there was an attempt to impose such a tax on students which was later withdrawn because of pubic outcry. At present, about 63% of university going  students (excluding National and Open Universities) study in private universities, many of who would either have gone outside the country, often to third grade universities or colleges, often cheated or returning with a useless degrees. The emergence of private universities at least to some extent has managed to stop such an exodus. While studies in public universities are practically completely subsidised by the State, the costs of studying in private universities are borne by the students and their parents along with grants by the founders. The cost of running a private university is also borne on commercial basis and on surplus revenue they have to pay a 15% income tax.

Some people have a wrong idea that those studying in private universities come from affluent society. This is not true. The fact is more than 60 percent of students studying in private universities come from middle and lower middle income families. Some parents meet the education expenses of their children in these universities by selling their immovable property like land. Many students do part time jobs in call centres, super shops and coffee parlours.  Few work as teaching assistants of their teachers. Needless to say that all private universities are not performing up to the expectation and in some the founders do take out money through clandestine channels. But these are different problems that will have to be looked up by the Ministry of Education and the UGC. But imposing a VAT on students needs a second thought as such an imposition will put an extra burden on the students and their parents. Though many think the tax will have to be paid by the university, in reality the VAT is paid by the service receiver and not the giver. So the onus will be on the students and their parents. It is not expected that the students of private universities will go out on the street and get violent to put a pressure on the government but they also expect a realistic intervention of the Prime Minister on this issue. It is again back to the good Prime Minister according to many parents I talked with.

Some small decisions, made judiciously considering the prevailing circumstances can take the country to a newer height of achievement. The country has achieved food autarky under the current government; now it is time to bring about a revolution in the education sector. This is possible with little bit of attention and pragmatic approach by the present government. Let normal condition prevail in all sectors.

The writer is an analyst and commentator, Chairman of the UGC Bangladesh

Source:http://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/69025/Unwarranted-unrest-in-the-highest-seats-of-learning