CoU law department struggles with teacher shortage

Students of the Department of Law at Comilla University (CoU) are facing growing academic uncertainty due to a prolonged shortage of teachers, with regular classes, examinations and publication of results being disrupted.

The shortage has also raised concerns over a possible session jam, causing frustration among students of the department. According to department sources, the Law Department, which began its academic activities in the 2015-16 academic year, currently has eight teachers.

However, four of them are on study leave, leaving only four teachers to conduct classes, examinations, answer-script evaluations and administrative activities for seven running batches.

As a result, the department has had to depend on part-time and guest teachers from other departments and universities to conduct several courses. Students say this has created difficulties in maintaining class schedules, as teachers from other departments have to adjust Law Department classes around their own academic responsibilities.

The situation came to a head on June 23, when students locked the department demanding measures to reduce the session jam.

They later placed six demands before the university authorities. The then Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dr Masuda Kamal, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Dr Mohammad Belal Uddin, and Acting Head of the department, Sadia Tabassum, assured them that steps would be taken to address the problems.

Students said the academic calendar was subsequently revised in line with their demands. However, they are now calling for the immediate appointment of teachers to resolve the crisis permanently.

“Teachers from other departments are taking classes for some of our Law courses. Their schedules often do not match ours. They come to our department after finishing classes in their own departments, so regular classes are not always possible,” said Md Bayezid Hossain, a student of the department.

“Two of our courses are being taught by teachers from other departments-one from the Faculty of Business and another from the social sciences. It is also difficult for us to maintain proper academic coordination with them,” he said.

Acting Head of the Law Department Sadia Tabassum acknowledged the pressure created by the teacher shortage.”Despite the shortage, our academic activities are continuing. We are working according to the roadmap provided by the students. Due to the shortage, each of our teachers is currently taking six courses,” she said.