The Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2023 highlight the need to increase funding for research and the number of teachers at Bangladeshi universities, experts and educationists have said.
Five universities from Bangladesh made it onto the THE Rankings for 2023. As many as 10 other universities in the country applied for the rankings but failed to qualify.
Syed Manzoorul Islam, a former professor at Dhaka University, said he believes poor research quality is one of the reasons many Bangladeshi universities failed to qualify for the rankings.
He stressed the need for more research funding for the universities, and said Bangladeshi universities could rise to the top 500 with sufficient support.
UGC member Prof Muhammed Alamgir said the student-teacher ratio was one of the key areas that needed improvement at Bangladeshi universities.
The UGC has already sent guidelines and directions to ensure quality education.
The Bangladesh Accreditation Council (BAC) said accreditation rules, a general accreditation policy, conflict of interest and confidentiality management policies had been prepared in line with international standards so that authorities of universities can improve the quality of education.
Dhaka University and North South University were ranked as the top two universities of the country, with both universities ranking in the 601-800 range. Bangladesh Agricultural University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), and Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) ranked in the 1,201-1500 range.
DU’s ranking is its highest in the last seven years. The public university ranked 801-1,000 in 2022, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. DU was first included on the THE Rankings in 2016, but no Bangladeshi university was listed in 2017.
American University of Bangladesh (AIUB), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Daffodil International University, Dhaka International University, International University of Business Agriculture & Technology (IUBAT), Jessore University of Science and Technology, Khulna University, University of Liberal Arts (ULAB), United International University (UIU), and Varendra University applied to be included in the rankings but failed to qualify.
Times Higher Education published the list on Wednesday. A total 1,799 universities from 104 countries were evaluated in terms of the quality of their teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income.
The UK’s Oxford University topped the list for the sixth consecutive year, while Harvard University in the US placed second and Cambridge University, also in the UK, placed third.
Universities from the US dominated the top 20, taking 12 spots. The top two Asian universities are both in China: Tsinghua University and Peking University at 16th and 17th, respectively.
In terms of the number of universities that made it onto the list, Japan leads the way in Asia with 117, followed by China with 95, and India with 75. Eight Pakistani universities made it onto the list.
