Form accreditation council for varsities to ensure quality edn

The public and private universities in the country have no external system or method to review the academic programmes, they said.

American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) organised the two-day workshop on 'Development of Measurement for Higher Education Quality Assurance in Bangladesh' that began at Sonargaon Hotel in the city yesterday.

More than 20 foreign participants from 15 countries and about 30 educationists from public and private universities in the country are taking part in the workshop.

Inaugurating the workshop, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof Nazrul Islam said the commission is very much worried about the quality of education in the country as most universities do not provide education of highest standard.

"Quality teachers are needed to ensure quality education. We have already submitted a recommendation regarding minimum qualifications of the university teachers," he said.

Prof M Asaduzzaman, former chairman of UGC, said the university is considered a place where new knowledge is created and disseminated for the welfare and development of human being.

"During my tenure as UGC chairman, I submitted to the government a set of proposals for reforms in the higher education. The main proposals are uniform recruitment rules for teachers and employees, uniform financial rules and account manual, operation of foreign universities and their branches, uniform grading system, rules for the establishment of an accreditation council, private university (amendment) act-2005 and strategic plan for higher education from 2006-2026," he said.

He also presented a keynote paper on 'UGC experience on quality assurance in higher education in Bangladesh' in the second session, stressing the formation of an Accreditation Council for Private University in Bangladesh (ACPUB) to assess and maintain the standard of higher education.

Prof Dr Salahuddin Aminuzzaman said most departments of the universities do not have long-term national vision, but such a vision is crucial to quality education.

"Quality education in universities will be achieved through changing the method of teaching and learning as well as assessment methods, renewing the curriculum continually, updating and upgrading professional knowledge and skills and improving the broader educational, administrative and resource environments," he said in his paper on 'Overview of Quality Assurance in the Context of Bangladesh.'

AIUB Vice-Chancellor Dr Carmen Z Lamagna, Prof Colin Peiris and Concepcion V Pijano also spoke.