Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), on Tuesday urged strengthening the bond between industries and educational institutions to encourage economic progress.
“The biggest problem in our country is the lack of communication between our industries and educational institutions,” he said, adding that Japan and South Korea have made progress through industry-academia collaboration.
Universities should not only teach; they should focus on teaching all the subjects that have demand in the job market, he further said.
“If we want to increase our capacity, we have to make partnerships with the educational institutions. We need to strengthen the bond between industry and business community,” the FBCCI president said while speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on Industry - Academia Collaboration, jointly organized by North South University (NSU) and the apex trade body of the country.
The main objective of the seminar was to provide timely education to the students through joint research of industry and academia and involving academics to solve various problems of the industry, reads a press release.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NSU and former president of FBCCI MA Kashem was present as the special guest at the seminar.
“Our graduates are now working in all the reputed institutions of the world including reputed government and non-government institutions of the country,” he said.
“We think the biggest task of a university is to participate in research work — our students and teachers are jointly conducting research with reputed institutes of the country which are playing a big role in solving various problems,” he added.
Kashem said NSU’s duty is to make a student capable for the job market, which is why it encourages students to conduct joint research with the industries.
“I would like to thank the FBCCI for showing their interest in conducting joint research with NSU. I think this joint effort will help our students to become skilled in the job market as well as help the industries to find skilled people and solve various problems.
"Tell us what kind of skilled graduates you need, we will teach our graduates accordingly," he said while addressing industrial representatives.
Professor Atiqul Islam, vice-chancellor of NSU, said a university has two jobs — knowledge creation and dissemination of knowledge.
The first one is related to research activities, in which regard NSU is the number one in the country, he said.
“We are committed to providing international quality education to our students. Students come to a university for a good job, 100% NSU graduates are in a good position in the job market,” he further said.
Benajir Ahmed and Tanveer Harun, members of the NSU Board of Trustees were present as guests of honour.
Vice presidents, directors of FBCCI, deans and directors of various departments in NSU, department heads, senior officials, and faculty members were also present at the seminar.
