Rangpur Correspondent :
Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur (BRUR) is facing a shortage of highly qualified faculty members in its academic structure.
Out of the university’s total 204 teachers, 156 do not hold a PhD degree. Only 48 teachers have completed their PhD.
According to university sources, departments such as Sociology, Gender and Development Studies, Public Administration, and Management Information Systems (MIS) do not have any PhD-holding faculty members.
Meanwhile, the English, History and Archaeology, Economics, Political Science, Mass Communication and Journalism, Geography and Environmental Science, and Accounting and Information Systems departments each have only one teacher with a PhD.
The highest number of PhD-holding teachers are in the Bengali and Chemistry departments, with six in each.
Additionally, the CSE and Disaster Management Science departments have five each, the Physics department has four, and the Statistics, Management Studies, and Finance and Banking departments have three PhD-qualified teachers each.
The Mathematics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), and Marketing departments each have two PhD-holding teachers.
Teachers and students have called for an increase in the number of PhD-qualified faculty to improve the university’s academic standards and accelerate research activities.
Students say that the low number of PhD teachers creates a shortage of research supervisors, which impacts areas such as publication in international journals, high-quality research, and thesis supervision.
Professor Md. Matiur Rahman of the Management Studies department said that while some teachers are eager to pursue a PhD, many are held back due to insufficient scholarships and opportunities.
Nevertheless, several faculty members of the university are currently pursuing higher education abroad.
Professor Mohammad Ali Jinnah of the Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka, said that obtaining a PhD is one of the most important forms of training for knowledge creation and its proper dissemination at the higher education level.
He added that a PhD teaches students how to generate new knowledge through research.
Furthermore, a PhD allows the expansion of subject-specific knowledge to deeper levels and enables detailed investigation even of small issues.
He emphasised that subject-specific research is essential for senior faculty members, and obtaining a PhD should be considered a preparatory step.
Based on this degree, teachers can generate new knowledge in their respective fields.
Dr. HarunOr Rashid, Registrar of the university, said that teachers are granted a four-year study leave for PhD or higher research, which can be extended by an additional year if necessary.
During this period of up to five years, the university provides all facilities-a significant incentive.
