For the first time, Bangladesh today appointed a woman as the vice-chancellor of a major public university as part of its campaign for women empowerment in the country, where two ladies alternately headed the government since 1991.
"The President (Abdul Hamid) has signed the file appointing Professor Farzana Islam as the Vice-Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University," a Bangabhaban presidential palace spokesman told PTI.
He said the president as the chancellor of the university chose the anthropology professor from among a panel of three who were elected earlier by the university senate in line with the law.
Farzana's appointment came after the previous Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Anwar Hossain stepped down in January in the face of a prolonged movement by teachers.
Bangladesh earlier saw the appointment of a Filipino woman as the head of a leading private university.
The Muslim-majority country achieved the UN-set Millennium Development Goal (MDG) drastically reducing the maternal mortality rate and ensuring the maximum enrolment of girl children in school earning a global applause for women empowerment in social sectors.
Women are inducted in different civil service cadres including police and administration for the past several decades while during the past 1996-2001 tenure of the Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the army started recruiting female officers in combat units while previously only women doctors served in uniform in the armed forces.
Several women are now also serving as judges in the Supreme Court, while the higher judiciary of the country was previously the bastion of male judges.
Hasina and her archrival Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alternately appeared as the prime minister and opposition leader in parliament from 1991 to 2014.
Former President HM Ershad's wife Raushan became the opposition leader after the January 5 polls, boycotted by BNP while Shirin Sharmin, another prominent woman is now the parliamentary speaker.
