Senior faculty members at Islamic University (IU) have raised allegations of political favoritism, procedural violations, and lack of transparency in the selection process of the Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation (HEAT) Project, a flagship initiative backed by the World Bank and administered by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
At a press conference held on Sunday at the Teachers’ Lounge of the Applied Science and Technology Building, the faculty accused project authorities of undermining academic integrity by favoring candidates with political affiliations—particularly those aligned with the ruling Awami League—at the expense of merit.
Professor Dr. Minnatul Karim of the Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering department chaired the event while Professor Dr. Mizanur Rahman read out a written statement.
The teachers highlighted multiple flaws in the HEAT project’s implementation, including political bias, unqualified reviewers, conflict of interest, breach of blind review, quota system ignored, projects approved without industry partners, selective deadline extensions, regional and institutional bias, selections appear skewed toward specific universities, departments, and regions, lack of research quality assessment and weak oversight.
The protesting faculty demanded the cancellation of the current selection list and called for the process to be restarted through a transparent, merit-based system.
Among those present at the press conference were Professor Abul Kalam Azad, Professor Golam Mowla, Professor ATM Mijanur Rahman, Professor Gazi Arifuzzaman, Associate Professor Dr. SM Abdur Razzaque, Professor Dr. Zahidul Islam, and Professor Dr. Shariful Islam.
Professor Dr. Tanzimuddin Khan, a key figure in the project, however, could not be reached over the phone despite repeated attempts for his comment in this regard.
Professor Dr. Asaduzzaman, the HEAT Project Director, dismissed the allegations, stating, “Everything has been transparent. We followed the project manual strictly.”
When asked about the claim of political favoritism, he replied, “I have no comment on this matter.”
