40pc private univ seats vacant [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

40pc private univ seats vacant

Local January 12, 2016

Government has approved the applications for opening six new private universities though some 40 per cent of the seats in the existing ones was vacant in last five years.
Seats of private universities, which don’t offer quality education and lack the needed infrastructure, remains vacant, said educationists.
‘Students show no interest in private universities not known for satisfactory performance’ said University Grants Commission chairman professor Abdul Mannan.
Students and their parents also keep the location of a university and the facilities it offers in their minds, he said.
Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid said that the government approved the applications for opening six new private universities.
Now, he said, there are 91 private universities in the country.
Education ministry officials said that approval was given by the Prime Minister’s Office last week.
They said that two new universities will be opened in the capital and one each in Chittagong, Khulna, Manikganj and Kushtia.
The proposed universities include, The International University of Scholars and Canadian University in Dhaka.
, NPI University of Bangladesh at Manikganj, Northern University of Business and Technology in Khulna, Rabindra Maitree University in Kushtia and University of Creative Science and Technology in Chittagong.
According to the UGC officials, about 39 per cent out of 1,14,512 seats at 51 private universities in the graduation level remain vacant in 2010.
Percentage of seat vacancy at private university is increasing as 43 per cent out of 1,61,658 seats at 75 private universities remained vacant in 2014.
About 43 per cent out of 1,45,025 seats at 68 private universities in 2013 remain vacant. About 38 per cent out of 1,31,932 seats at 60 universities remained vacant in 2012 and 49 per cent of 1,37,101 seats at 52 universities were vacant in 2011.
Public universities are the first choice for guardians as well as students and generally students who failed to get a seat in these universities goes to enroll at private universities and others colleges.
UGC and private university officials said though the number of private universities swelled to 91 since 1992, students prefer to seek admission into 15 or 20 of them.
A UGC official said that only 10 to 12 private universities offer satisfactory quality of education.
Former UGC member Mohammad Mohabbat Khan said that students usually prefer the private universities based in the capital when the question of taking admission comes.
Educationists said that not all the 56 existing private universities in the capital were in the list of students’ preference.
Sponsors opened some of universities keeping only profits in their minds and they showed any interest in offering quality education, said former UGC chairman Nazrul Islam.
Some of them even sell degrees, he said.
He said that these universities never cared to develop the needed facilities.
It is only obvious that a private university that doe not offer quality education would not get students, said Association of Non-Government Universities of Bangladesh president Sheikh Kabir Hossain.
‘Questionable activities of some the private universities put us in an embarrassing situation,’ he said.
The government should take action to bring them under discipline them,’ he said.
Despite limitations the UGC is trying its best to improve monitoring to regulate the private universities, said its chairman.