Talking about the Bangladesh Open University, Dr, Denys Meakin, a Canadian consultant with BOU says. "My main work here Is to estab llsh an Infrastructure for the university. It was established in '92 by the Government of Bangla desh It is a public university which is esta blished to help overcome the shortage of places in the more conventional universities.'

Explaining the necessity of an open univer sity in Bangladesh Dr. Meakin proceeds to explain."The main reason is that an open university Is able to take a large number of students without major expenses. Currently, the colleges and universities of Bangladesh are not able to accommodate all the qualified students who would like to pursue higher studies. More conventional universities and colleges would take a lot of capital funding and even at that point they would still be able to handle only a portion of the students who would like to study further. In an open university you have significant cost of developing the courses in the first place. Once you have got the courses developed the cost of delivering them to a large number'of students becomes relatively small. This is because you are not constrained by classrooms to accommodate every student that you want."

He continues to say. "Another big advantage of an open university which gives it its name is that if is much more ’open'. It is easier for students to gain admission. they do not need to attend regular classes. and they do need to move from their home to the city."

Dealing with teaching methods Dr. Meakin says. "The Open University concept stems from home study. Most people are familiar with some sort of cor respondent education system. This started in '59 when the British Open University began. The British applied modern theory and technology to distance learning . They produced teaching materials that were vastly superior to any materials that had existed before. They blended traditional well designed print materials with modern technology of TV. radio cassettes and telephone communications. This took the distant learner out of the isolated position. a student in the traditional campus gets a lot of peer support. The support in Bangladesh will come through TV broadcasts along with a network of 80 local centres.The students will also have to do assignments which the tutor will mark and hand back with comments. Since Britain established the system in '59 the technique has spread world wide. It has been adapted throughout Europe. North America. South America and particularly tn Asia."

Elaborating on the BOU Dr. Meakin explains. "Experience elsewhere has shown that open universities are very cost-effective. It may be quite expensive to get a first copy of the course on the shelf but then It is quite economical to produce large number of copies and deliver them to the students. You don’t have to spend large amounts on lecture halls . We will be giving tutorials In classrooms of other colleges and universities at times when they are not being used. This work will be done In the evenings and Eridays. The TV programmes will be expanded when TV gets its second channel. There are already about 10.000 students in a bachelor of education degree programme. A certificate of proficiency in English language is also offered. In '95 they will introduce the secondary school certificate programme for an expected 100.000 students. I expect the total growth to be 3 lakhs within three years. By then they will be teaching agriculture and rural development, commerce, management. education, nursing and arts subjects 'like geography and history"

Discussing the quality of graduates. Dr. Meakin says. "A university that doesn't have lectures can produce students of the same quality that a traditional university produces. Anyone who has been A student at a conventional university knows that while there maybe some good professors, there are also a lot of poor lecturers. Those who graduate are highly motivated and selfdisciplined. When the British Open University began, the other universities did not want those graduates but now any university , in Britain is happy to take an open university graduate. In Bangladesh too one hopes they will get recognition. "

Talking about the funding the education expert adds. The university is being funded by soft loans from the Asian Development Bank. The Government of Bangladesh is providing some funds in the form of land for the campus and also some staff. Land has been set aside for BOU headquarters at Gazipur. Regional centres are being established in 10 locations throughout the country, with the first two opening in Jessore and Bogra this month. The ongoing operations will be largely self-supporting.'

The university will have two semesters each year from February 1st and "August 1st followed by examinations. The fees vary from subject to subject and depends on the course load. For one semester it costs Tk 900 for a full course load.

Dr. Meakin who had been posted in the tropics before, returns to Canada in mid August. He expects to come back for a short-term visits to Bangladesh.