EVEN though 15 months have passed, the University Grants Commission (UGC) have failed to introduce a ranking system for the private universities to promote quality of education, according to news reports. UGC officials admitted that the majority of the private universities are providing low quality education and have widespread allegations of corruption against them.People’s ideas about how private universities are mere organized coaching centers are not isolated opinions anymore due to illegal and harmful practices of many private universities that engage in selling certificates as well as provide poor quality education and academic services. It is alarming that teachers in universities have not produced enough research papers and that there are not enough qualified lecturers (with only 10-12 private universities of satisfactory level at present). When one wonders how it came to this, they realise it is due to lack of proper regulation of private universities by the government and in proper enforcement of the Private Universities Act 2010.The recent plans of hiking VAT on private education by the government unearthed two different realities: that the government has very little idea about how the universities manage academics and finances as well as how many private universities use the lack of government supervision to run their courses with substandard services and unqualified faculty. Having an effective private university ranking system would reflect on elements of academic quality and provide valuable information to students for choosing a university based on research quality, faculty infrastructure and student assessment. It would hopefully reduce student drop-out rates, increase human capital production and may also increase overall academic welfare of the nation. For that to become reality, the UGC must forgo their lacklustre efforts and genuinely work on making the university rankings as well as properly supervise the activities of private universities. If current laws are applied and the ranking is properly initiated, universities (regardless of size) will use it as an incentive to invest in research, developing faculty infrastructure and satisfaction of their students, leading to better competition, reputation and stronger rankings. Alike other areas, the government has failed to ensure results as we have not seen any effective strategy for private universities (or the strict enforcement of laws to ensure their accountability). There is a big gap between the making and fulfillment of promises from educators and politicians. Flimsy excuses by UGC of ‘non-completion of surprise visits to private universities’ (even after six committees were formed for this purpose) as well as ‘lengthy procedures’ are not acceptable. The Education Ministry as well as other relevant government bodies must work properly and without delay to make sure all our universities (public and private) provide the best education possible to our students. The nation needs qualified graduates who can compete internationally and enhance national productivity for prosperous Bangladesh, not some boys and girls with so-called educational certificates of no value.
