Now Spurious PhDs
There are on the faculty of the Chittagong University some nine fake PhDs. According to a news reported by a national daily there is there also a D.Sc., his lofty diploma coming from no university but some World Development Association in India.
Investigation already made into the academic antecedents of some of the nine has failed even to locate the universities awarding them the doctorate. The gallant nine have, however, kept on prospering academically, one riding upto a full professorship - the highest office of any university.
Every now and then stories of spurious students pursuing degrees with forged certificates come up in the press. Now teachers want to share in that glory. It's a long time since someone on the faculty of the JU English Department was proven a dangerous or hilarious fake. But he was a lone ranger. The CU seems to have the achievers in droves.
Anti-corruption people are already after two of these. And perhaps they will go after two others very soon. The CU will be well-advised to go into the question of whether it befits a university to fail to manage its own affairs and proceed against criminals in the garb of teachers and leave its personnel to the disciplining by the courts in matters academic.
But then universities have their problems. They do have politics and of a very low and mean order. Those that are teaching there on the strength of papers forged and faked, are perhaps thriving by manipulating the senate and syndicate and blackmailing the holders of position by the threat of withdrawing support.
The question that would now agitate the mind of the nation is, are the other universities immune from this dangerous defect? Teachers can be good or bad, somewhat more endowed or less, given wholly or partly to the calling. But they cannot be criminals. Faking with academic records goes against the very fundaments of a university. And come to think of these characters teaching pupils.
Let this CU situation occasion a hunt for other such smart ones in the other universities. And when the count is complete, let these glorious lot be punished specially.
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