In Bangladesh, universities can be divided into three categories: Public, private, and national. While both Dhaka University and BUET are considered to be top universities in Bangladesh, they have made little improvement in the most recent QS world university rankings for 2021.
As was the case last year, both universities were classified as being in the 801-1,000 range. In terms of research, higher education, and corporate job; graduates from private universities outperform public and national university graduates, to some extent, but is it enough? Where are the gaps? Why are universities failing to produce skilled graduates?
Faulty recruitment system
The recruitment mechanism for teachers at public universities has lately been called into question. The recruitment process is plagued by several legal and institutional shortcomings. Recruitment based on political allegiance, for example. It is disheartening that; extensive and comprehensive rules are missing for recruiting teachers. According to a study by Transparency International Bangladesh, there is scope for fixing the recruitment processes by the syndicate boards.
Teachers at National University-affiliated colleges have been recruited through a rigorous procedure called the BCS examination, which is administered by the Bangladesh Public Service Commission. But a specific recruitment system is absent regarding the lecturer recruitment of public universities. In contrast, for being appointed as assistant professor, in private universities, one needs to complete a PhD degree, but a person can become a professor by using his job tenure without holding any PhD in both national and public universities.
Inadequate library facilities
Rather than focusing on their academic studies, students, mainly new graduates, utilize libraries to prepare for job interviews. The lack of harmony between the present education and recruitment systems is the primary driver of this predicament. Academic study is, at times, useless in the job market. Aside from that, a survey found that library users were frustrated with the facilities. Adequate books are not available. Furthermore, the E-library service is inactive. Students do not have access to .edu mail or prominent journals. How would they be able to read relevant publications this way?
The rising trend of the BCS craze
In less than six years, the number of applications has doubled -- from 244,000 in the 35th BCS to 475,000 in the 41st, smashing all previous records. On the curve, the increasing trend continues. With limited public investment in education, graduates are more interested in seeking government positions than pursuing research or starting their own businesses.
Over and above, apparently, perhaps our teachers have failed to motivate students to become academics, or pursue careers in the private/development sector, or pursue their higher studies.
The situation is worrisome, to say the least.
The complexities of the teacher-student relationship
The recent incident of 14 students having their hair cut by a teacher at Rabindra University in Sirajganj and the death of a KUET teacher has now given a chance to think again about the student-teacher relationship. Much of the student-teacher relationship is now in a state of discomfort, distrust, and, to put it bluntly, adversarial.
There are student-teacher politics across many university departments. Such politics are not usually centered on political parties; but rather around teachers and their own inter-office differences. As a result, many students are now becoming involved in such politics as well. The aim of the students is to obtain favourable results, whereas the goal of the teachers is to deploy students to irritate the opponents. Students are observed degrading other teachers on behalf of teachers they have pledged allegiance to, or treating them differently as part of their politics.
An absence of research culture
In national universities, neither teachers nor students have adequate scope for research. Teachers at national universities are promoted through basic training, departmental examinations, and senior scale examinations. M Phil, PhD, Post Doctorate, journal publications, and so on bear no significance on their promotion. As a result, they are uninterested in research.
So what about public universities? Have they been doing research in the true sense? According to the annual report of UGC, 2019, among 46 public universities, 19 university teachers aren't doing any kind of research. Even in 24 public universities, there is no scope for M Phil or PhD research. Teachers in these universities work or are promoted without conducting any research or by publishing in predatory journals by paying money.
What about private universities? According to the 47th annual report of the (UGC), among the public universities, Dhaka University has spent the most on research, over Tk6 crore. On the other hand, private university BRAC has spent the most on research in 2020, Over Tk55 cr.
It appears that the future of research culture in Bangladesh lies in the hands of private universities.
Dearth of quality education
According to a labour force survey by BBS, the unemployment rate is higher (48%) among educated people in our country. On the contrary, many companies hire employees from abroad due to the lack of qualified candidates available in our country. As a result, the quality of education delivered by public, private, and national institutions might be called into doubt.
In the context of private universities, the UGC has voiced concern over the prioritization of business over education, to the detriment of education naturally. Although the Private University Act 2010 was enacted sometime ago, only a handful of universities comply with it. According to recent research, only a few private universities, such as BRAC, have significantly improved their educational quality.
According to a survey of BIDS, 66%, or two-thirds, of students who graduated from National University-affiliated colleges are unemployed. The UGC is also dissatisfied with the educational quality of these colleges. As a result, it has been stated in their most recent annual report for three years in a row that the standard of graduates from national universities is insufficient.
They discovered a number of difficulties, including lack of regular class activities, teacher's crisis, shortage of trained and qualified teachers, and lack of teachers' training. Most of the graduates from the National University hardly think of going abroad to do a PhD/Masters.
In the case of public universities, a noble profession like teaching is seen as a mundane career. One of my own university teachers once told me, “I don't care about you (students), I'm a teacher of a public university, I’ve accomplished my career, and I need nothing now.” While the teachers think of the teaching profession to be merely a government job, then how would they think about students? How would they guide them? Rather, they emphasize on the advancement of their career in one way or another. The teacher further said, “you (students) will be able to become nothing more than a grocer in future.”
What a way to motivate those upon whom the future of the nation rests.
The aforementioned problems have caused us to reconsider the system of higher education in Bangladesh. Our higher education system should not be politicized, teachers-students should be able to coordinate easily, not be competitive, and adequate library facilities are needed in all educational institutions. Last but not the least, the government must spend more money on research, and encourage a research based culture in the universities.
Md Obaidullah and Md Sohrab Hossen work as Research Assistants at Center for Advanced Social Research, Dhaka.
