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OPINION

'Crisis in Higher Education'
May I comment on your editorial 'Crisis in Higher Education' (Saturday. April 20) in which you have referred to my article, printed in the Weekend Magazine of April 12. I should mention, first, that the sub-title should we have private universities?' was your contribution, not mine. In my brief article. I did raise the issue. true, but it was not the central issue. Had it been so, I would have entered more fully into the question. My main concern was to underline the current problem of acute paucity of places in our universities for students otherwise eligible for admission, and to suggest that there was a case for more universities. It Is in this context that the issue of private universities was raised.
You are quite right when you detect in my article, a lack of enthusiasm for universities in the private sector. It was never my intention to plead for the establishment of some, though 1 was quite prepared to concede that perhaps, as and when one or a few such universities get going, they could do no harm. I am quite unabashed when I put it thus. How can I Judge what sort of universities these may prove to be so long the proposal remains on paper? In my present state of mind I will campaign neither in favour nor in opposition, to the idea.
The 'crisis' as I see it. though here again 1 did not choose this sensational word for my article, is of such dimension that one should agree to almost any proposal meant for its amelioration. I share your anxiety when you question whether we have a sufficient linkage between our products and the nation's developmental need, including the need of our industries. You will agree, perhaps, that the majority of university products are expected to come out With a general competence, and not with a particular skill for a par tlcular Job. This latter, too comes within the scope of higher education, but only in certain disciplines. I should at once add that the level of general competence attained by our average graduates falls far
short of our expectations. I will admit that my grudging acceptance of the idea of private universities was prompted by the realisation of this sad fact. I am ready to believe that in this dismal scenario, private universities may provide some cause for hope, always remembering. at the same time, that our existing universities are not doomed irredeemably.
You have made a plea, and correctly so. for greater investment in education. By this you mean investment by the private sector. There is no bar for private investors to offer funds, tn the form of endowments, to the existing universities. The Universities Acts make it perfectly clear. Endowments are virtually nil. and unfortunately, the concept of fund-raising, for the Improvement and development of our universities, has been totally missing in our part of the world. We believe that we now have a good number of possible donors in this country, if by donors we mean people who have means to donate. But it is not known whether our education, in any of its sector, has been a beneficiary of their affluence.
Finally, not everybody will agree with you that we have exhausted the possibilities of governmental spending on education particularly higher education. Many of us see a clear imbalance in our budgetary allocation. In most enlightened countries, education enjoys a higher share of the budget than is the case here, and a comparison of the national budgets will support this view. This not to say that private investment in higher education will not be welcome, or cannot play a significant role. If our notoriously shy capital, by overcoming its shyness, does step into this arena of non-profitablllty. in material terms, then that will surely mark the beginning of a new era.
Zillur Rahaman Siddiqui
Dhaka
(The writer tn the former Education Adviser to the tn tertm government and a former Vice Chancellor of the Jahangir Nagar University.)