However, even more depressing other than the establishing the Higher Education Commission is that the UGC repeatedly called private universities to comply with the Private Universities Act 2010, and most of these private universities continue to defy UGC’s instructions – in terms of shifting to respective campuses, appoint Vice-Chancellor, Pro-VC and Treasurer, holding regular meetings of syndicate, and carry out regular audits – in line with the law.
We mark a series of flaws in the UGC’s end, markedly, lack of commitment, bureaucratic tangle, failure to implement its recommendations. According to experts and global rankings, standard of education both at our public and private universities have declined in recent years. The UGC needs to take this fact into serious consideration.
On one hand, not even a single Bangladeshi university is among the top 700 universities in the world while on the other; new public universities as well as those outside Dhaka are failing to woo students for their poor performance due mainly to shortage of teachers and infrastructure.
The truth, however, in most cases authorities concerned fail to feel the necessity of the UGC’s recommendations, so they remain unimplemented. Moreover it’s also short of funds. This should not continue with the country’s apex body of all affiliated public, private and international universities of Bangladesh.
Needs be mentioned, UGC is also responsible to provide funds for public universities of the country. Its mission is to ensure the quality of Higher Education throughout the country, it should be appropriately funded. Need of the hour is to re-equip the UGC with the most able of hands and ensure its proper functioning. We have compromised with the quality of our education at all levels for too long. Now it must stop.
