& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

OPINION

Twelve Universities of Science and Technology

Dr A Majeed Khan
The news of the government plan to set up 12 new universities of Science and Technology which appeared as banner headline in a local dally on 14 February — the Valentine's Day — was probably the most positive expression of official concern about higher education in years. I am not aware as to how institutional memories are kept in the Ministry of Education. The current proposal is reminiscent of one which may still be there lying in a dust-covered file. That earlier proposal made in early '80s was to establish up to 20 universities over 4 five-year plans (in 20 years). They were to be raised upon existing colleges at old district headquarters (18 in all) and Jagannath and Eden Girls' Colleges in Dhaka. The proposal was a sequel to an earlier review which found some 34 colleges were teaching Honours courses in different subjects without the provision to teach MA classes in those same colleges. Dhaka. Rajshahi and Chittagong universities were most reluctant to enrol Honours graduates from colleges into their MA final year. Two other important considerations which entered at the time were: 1) burgeoning number of youths eligible and anxious to enter higher education, and 2) lower student costs at district towns.
The upgrading of senior colleges to universities were to take place in two stages: 1) to upgrade them as "university" colleges and equip them to be able to teach both Honours and MA courses still under old universities; and after five years of successful development and commensurate funding; 2) to grant them the autonomy and charter of full-fledged universities. In this scheme, both Jagannath College and Eden Girls' College were upgraded as university colleges and 10 others were listed to follow over the two successive five-year plans (1986-95). Those were: My-mensingh A M College. Farid pur Rajendra College. Barisal B M College. ComlTla Victoria College. Sylhet M C College.
Khulna B L College. Jessore M D College. Rangpur Carmichael College and Rajshahi and Chittagong Government colleges. In the meantime, new universities have been established in Khulna and Sylhet in the late "80s and Jagannath University College became a university two years ago.
However, since the early '80s, there have been global changes in the understanding about and the escalating cost of higher education. Their impact has also reached us. We now better understand the role of higher education and also about the costs involved. The government in the meantime has passed the Private University Act 1992. and for the first time opened private initiative to come forward in this field. According to the official figure, there are now 16 private universities in the countiy. They are in different state of quality and development. But the overwhelming fact is that people have shown eagerness to invest in higher education from both sides of demand and supply. There are now over three thousand students studying in private universities and entrepreneurs are investing to provide quality and standards to their efforts. Some of the people in private higher education might have been motivated for profit but they will soon learn. The caution is that none will survive the challenges of the field unless there will be large-scale philanthropy, state support and the growth of a healthy non-profit sector of the economy to push this development. The government must realise that education is a national agenda and that a new opportunity has been created to share it with private en trepreneurship. The new climate if carefully fostered and strengthened, the chances are that education in the country will be more demand-oriented and will find allocation of greater national wealth to provide the state of the-art education in the country.
Everyone will agree that one reason for the deterioration of educational standards of state universities is the lack of resource. The government is unable to significantly increase its grants to these universities. Therefore, no one can think that situation will vastly improve in the near future. The hopes that the government will establish 12 universities of Science and Technology of any standards on a purse of Tk 152 crore is totally misplaced. For a comparison, the recurrent budget of private Aga Khan University (Karachi) Medical Centre which includes a hospital and a teaching faculty, in 1994 was approximately $30 million (Tk 120 crore). Its standards competes internationally.
Given our fund constraints, the growing needs and interest to provide international standards higher education in the country, the government should:
a) Vigorously support and strengthen the nascent private initiatives in higher education, provide tax relief on donations to education, and overseas teachers' salary Income, allot real estate, wherever applicable at official rate for the purpose of building permanent sites and facilities; and buy services of the institutions instead of engaging itinerant foreign experts or agencies.
b) Establish a Fund-in-Trust to support programme or faculty development of private universities: and
c) Establish educational loan fund and authorise educational loans from the national Zakat Fund (karze hasana)
The amount of Tk 152 crore which the government has an nounced to spend for establishing of 12 new universities, it is better advised to spend the same fund to upgrade some of the premier colleges at old district headquarters The establish ment of universities should follow a course of progressive de velopnient of these institutions
The writer is the President of Independent University Uangladesh