Academic activities of different public universities are about to hit rock bottom as some 2,500 teachers out of a total of 9,725 of these higher educational institutions are on various types of leave. Preferring not to be named, a top-level source in the University Grants Commission (UGC) told daily sun that the academic activities are severely hampered in public universities as a large number of teachers remain on leave regularly while many on-duty teachers are not serious in academic matters. According to the University Grants Commission report 2010 on the situation of the universities—all are self-governed under autonomy—some 2,498 teachers, out of the 9,725, of 31 public universities were on leave. Of them, 426 were on unauthorized leave and leave without pay, 449 on lien and deputation, and 1623 on study leave. The daily sun obtained a copy of the report that is yet to be published. UGC member Professor Dr Mohabbat Khan told daily sun that the universities should take action against the teachers who are absent from academic activities for long. “It has been observed that many of the teachers unreasonably extend their tenure of education leave and some of the teachers engage themselves into consultancy by taking lien. It clearly hampers academic activities,” Professor Khan said. He requested the authorities concerned of each university to take action against those teachers who are on illogical and long-term leave. There are 1900 teachers in the country’s largest higher educational institution, Dhaka University. Of them, 632 teachers are enjoying various types of leave and 1267 are on-duty. Like it or loathe it, the situation at another premier univ, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, is yet worse. Of the 649 Buet teachers, 348 were on leave at the time of count. Of them, 187 were on unauthorized leave or on leave without pay. The report shows Bangladesh Agricultural University has 523 teachers. Of them, 181 are on different types of leave. There are 1178 teachers to teach in Rajshahi University, and 198 of them were on different types of leave. About 220 teachers of Chittagong University, 119 teachers of Jahangirnagar University, 58 teachers of Islami University, 143 teachers of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and 92 teachers of Khulna University were on leave, the UGC report reveals. Professor Abdul Bayes, former Vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, said, “Academic activities of public universities are being hampered seriously as a section of teachers are enjoying different types of leave and doing consultancy while on-duty teachers are engaged in taking classes in private universities.” Professor Bayes termed the event of enjoying unauthorized leave, lien and long-term absence in the name of education leave by some teachers as a ‘bad culture’. He also criticized on-duty public university teachers who pass maximum time in private universities, depriving their own students through duty dodging, saying that ‘they are masters in public universities and servants in private universities. Click This Link