M M Jasim :
About 5000 students study in Comilla University. But it has not adequate number of teachers, a modern library, laboratory facilities and sufficient classrooms. Even the university has no examination center. As a result, the students do not get the world standard higher education.
A similar situation prevails in almost all the public universities of the country. Contrarily, the private universities are doing business in the name of higher education.
The latest QS World University Rankings published on Tuesday showed the name of the Dhaka University on the list of 936 universities around the world. The DU was 300th in the bottom of the ranking standing.
After publication of the report, there is a burning question: What is the real scenario of higher education in Bangladesh. Couldn’t the government ensure the quality higher education? Contrarily, 14 Indian and Six Pakistani universities are on the list. But Bangladesh has one only.
Professor Emeritus Sirajul Islam Chowdhury told The New Nation on Wednesday, the country’s higher education is substandard compared with the world education system.
“We increased quantity in the higher education without ensuring the quality. How will the quality be ensured when we are busy with GPA-5? He questioned.
Sirajul Islam said, “The University Grants Commission (UGC) approves a poor amount of
money for research annually, whereas without research improvement of higher education is barely possible.”
“The teachers are not appointed on the basis of merit. They are appointed on political basis or by underhand dealings. That is why the students are deprived of good education and its impacts are evident from practical field,” he said.
He said that research is mandatory for a teacher to get promotion. But now it is neglected. The teachers get promotion automatically. It induces others to ignore research. In a wide sense, the universities discourage research. That is why the Bangladeshi universities failed to enter the top list of QS World University Rankings, Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said.
It may be mentioned that The QS World University Rankings are designed to help prospective students know the comparisons of leading universities around the world.
It runs the statistics based on academic reputation (40pc), employer reputation (10pc), students-faculties ratio (20pc), citations per faculty (20pc) and international faculty ratio (5pc) and international student ratio (5pc).
Some universities in Bangladesh have academic reputation, but the universities are yet to fulfill other indicators.
Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said, all the six indicators are very important to achieve world standard higher education. But it is matter of concern that no initiative is yet to take to improve the education system in Bangladesh.
Dhaka University allocated Tk 12 crore only out of total Tk 608 crore in research during the 2016-17 academic session, Tk seven crore out of Tk 500 crore during 2015.-16 session, Tk 2.36 crore out of Tk 344 crore during 2014-15 session and Tk 4.50 crore out of Tk 260 crore during 2013-14 session.
Sirazul Islam said, the allocated money is insufficient for doing research. “We have been urging the government and the university authorities to increase the allocation for research since long. But it is not increased for unknown reasons.”
Chairman of UGC Professor Abdul Mannan said, the universities should be more aware of their education system. The university authorities have to ensure all the facilities before opening a faculty or department, he said.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Akhtaruzzaman said most of the universities started with inadequate facilities. As a result, it will be difficult to ensure quality education.
“The number of students is increasing every year. But the facilities are not enhanced. It is a bad practice leaving negative impact on higher education,” he said.
About 5000 students study in Comilla University. But it has not adequate number of teachers, a modern library, laboratory facilities and sufficient classrooms. Even the university has no examination center. As a result, the students do not get the world standard higher education.
A similar situation prevails in almost all the public universities of the country. Contrarily, the private universities are doing business in the name of higher education.
The latest QS World University Rankings published on Tuesday showed the name of the Dhaka University on the list of 936 universities around the world. The DU was 300th in the bottom of the ranking standing.
After publication of the report, there is a burning question: What is the real scenario of higher education in Bangladesh. Couldn’t the government ensure the quality higher education? Contrarily, 14 Indian and Six Pakistani universities are on the list. But Bangladesh has one only.
Professor Emeritus Sirajul Islam Chowdhury told The New Nation on Wednesday, the country’s higher education is substandard compared with the world education system.
“We increased quantity in the higher education without ensuring the quality. How will the quality be ensured when we are busy with GPA-5? He questioned.
Sirajul Islam said, “The University Grants Commission (UGC) approves a poor amount of
money for research annually, whereas without research improvement of higher education is barely possible.”
“The teachers are not appointed on the basis of merit. They are appointed on political basis or by underhand dealings. That is why the students are deprived of good education and its impacts are evident from practical field,” he said.
He said that research is mandatory for a teacher to get promotion. But now it is neglected. The teachers get promotion automatically. It induces others to ignore research. In a wide sense, the universities discourage research. That is why the Bangladeshi universities failed to enter the top list of QS World University Rankings, Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said.
It may be mentioned that The QS World University Rankings are designed to help prospective students know the comparisons of leading universities around the world.
It runs the statistics based on academic reputation (40pc), employer reputation (10pc), students-faculties ratio (20pc), citations per faculty (20pc) and international faculty ratio (5pc) and international student ratio (5pc).
Some universities in Bangladesh have academic reputation, but the universities are yet to fulfill other indicators.
Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said, all the six indicators are very important to achieve world standard higher education. But it is matter of concern that no initiative is yet to take to improve the education system in Bangladesh.
Dhaka University allocated Tk 12 crore only out of total Tk 608 crore in research during the 2016-17 academic session, Tk seven crore out of Tk 500 crore during 2015.-16 session, Tk 2.36 crore out of Tk 344 crore during 2014-15 session and Tk 4.50 crore out of Tk 260 crore during 2013-14 session.
Sirazul Islam said, the allocated money is insufficient for doing research. “We have been urging the government and the university authorities to increase the allocation for research since long. But it is not increased for unknown reasons.”
Chairman of UGC Professor Abdul Mannan said, the universities should be more aware of their education system. The university authorities have to ensure all the facilities before opening a faculty or department, he said.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Akhtaruzzaman said most of the universities started with inadequate facilities. As a result, it will be difficult to ensure quality education.
“The number of students is increasing every year. But the facilities are not enhanced. It is a bad practice leaving negative impact on higher education,” he said.
