UNB, Dhaka :
The University Grant Commission (UGC), a statutory apex body that monitors higher education, wants the universities in Bangladesh to introduce 50 globally important disciplines to create competent human resources. The UGC in its recently published annual report 2013 says Bangladesh needs to create science and technology-based skilled manpower for surviving in the competition with the developed world and facing the challenges of the 21st century.
“Hence, it’s essential to incorporate science and technology-related disciplines with modern laboratories in university curricula as per demand of the age,” the report said.
The suggested disciplines are nanotechnology, biotechnology or bioengineering, livestock, land and water resources, poverty alleviation and economic development, forest resources, fisheries resources, mineral resources, renewable energy and gas extraction, collection of marine resources, medical science and nursing, leather industry, textile engineering, fashion design, apparel manufacturing, ceramic, pharmaceuticals, automobile engineering, marine architecture, marine biology, social science, environment science and disaster management.
The UGC also suggested the country’s higher educational institutions to incorporate necessary contents about three subjects-English language, communication and IT knowledge-in the curricula of each discipline so that students can demonstrate their competence in the competitive global job market.
UGC chairman Prof Dr AK Azad Chowdhury said the demand of the 50 disciplines will keep on growing in the nearest future. “We’ve suggested introduction of the disciplines assessing the future demand.”
Among the disciplines, he said, some have already been introduced in various universities, but the UGC suggested the universities prioratising the disciplines in the coming days. About curricula, Prof Azad said English, communication and IT knowledge must be get importance in the curricula. “Or else, graduates and postgraduates will not be able to present themselves in the competitive job examinations, especially the viva voce,” he noted. Echoing the same sentiment, Prof Siddiqur Rahman, a teacher of Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research (IER), said the new disciplines must be introduced in universities to fulfil the demand of the age.
“Apart from opening new subjects, we’ve to recruit competent teachers and ensure laboratory facilities and resourceful libraries if we want to improve the standard of the country’s higher education,” he said. About UGC’s proposal for making university curricula time-befitting ones, Prof Rahman said there is no curriculum other than syllabus in the country’s universities.
“Syllabus is part of the curriculum. There must be a comprehensive plan to prepare time-befitting curricula. Any education without curricula is nothing but aimless,” said Siddiqur Rahman.
