Result Dispute
Duta unhappy as Pro-VC made probe convener
DU Correspondent
Teachers of Dhaka University expressed their dissatisfactions over the appointment of Pro-vice-chancellor Prof AFM Yusuf Haider as the convener of the investigation committee formed by the authorities to probe into the incident of 52 Masters of Social Sciences (MSS) candidates getting first class grades in the final examinations at the political science department.The disputed result of the MSS 2002 examinations, which were held in 2004, was published with the Pro-VC's signature. "I think the Pro-VC should not be included in the probe committee as he signed the tabulation sheets meaning that he already took a position," said Prof Sharifullah Bhuyian, president of Dhaka University Teachers' Association (Duta). Vice-chancellor (VC) Prof SMA Faiz said the syndicate of the university took the decision to appoint the Pro-VC as the convener of the committee and that signing of the tabulation sheets by him should not be considered in his appointment to the post. Some teachers talking to The Daily Star said as the dean of the social science faculty, Prof Harun-or-Rashid should be included in the committee. But the VC said the committee was formed with only members of the syndicate. Nobody from outside the syndicate was included in the committee to maintain its impartiality. According to the terms of reference of the probe committee, it will investigate only the faults in the tabulation sheets but will not investigate the allegations that the question papers were not kept in the examination controller's strong room before the examinations, possible leakage of those question papers and possible irregularities in evaluating the examination papers. Duta will officially ask the university authorities to let it know about the terms of reference of the probe committee, as it wants a thorough investigation of the matter, Prof Sharifullah Bhuyian said. "We will also demand that the university authorities show all the documents to Duta president and secretary, so they could not be tampered with." Earlier, Duta held an urgent general meeting on February 19 and asked the university authorities to form a facts finding committee to facilitate a thorough investigation and wanted to see the tabulation sheets, as it is having a crisis of confidence on the authorities, said Prof Bhuyian. Sources said there are some strong suspicions about where the question papers were kept before the examinations, possible leakage of those questions, and evaluation of the examination papers, so Duta might ask the authorities to change the terms of reference of the probe committee to cover all the allegations. The VC said if any one comes with proper evidence of question paper leakage and other matters, those must be investigated.
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