Uproar over new private universities

Dhaka Tribune 07 September 2013

At least seven new private universities in Bangladesh with reported links to the ruling party are awaiting approval as the government nears the end of its term, despite claims that most existing higher education institutions in the private sector are underperforming and struggling to attract students, writes Mushfique Wadud for the Dhaka Tribune.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told the Dhaka Tribune recently that the process of approving the new private universities was under way. Education ministry officials, meanwhile, said they had already sent a list of seven universities to the prime minister’s office for consent.

University Grants Commission and education ministry sources claimed that some of the sponsors of the proposed universities have political links. According to commission officials, documents show that a state minister’s wife proposed Global University in Jhalkathi, while a former Juba League leader is behind Sheikh Fazilatunnesa University in Jamalpur. Sponsors of the other five universities are mainly businessmen with political connections.
Full report on the Dhaka Tribune site

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