Home ›› 13 Jul 2022 ›› Front
The number of private universities has grown rapidly in Bangladesh, creating employment for a huge amount of people in the sector, over the last three decades.
The country’s first private university was established in 1992 and the number of such institutions now is 108. Nearly 28,000 people are employed by all these universities.
According to University Grants Commission (UGC) data, the number of manpower at 51 private universities was 16,445 in 2010. It increased by 98 per cent to 27,858 at 108 institutions in 2020.
Also, back in 2010, the total annual revenue of 51 private universities was at Tk 1,221 crore, said UGC data.
In 2020, the total annual revenue of 96 private universities increased by 170 per cent to Tk 3,297 crore.
Experts say the growths in the private universities’ business and employment are the results of several factors, including a higher number of students, wider access to higher education and recognition.
Many students still now prefer the private universities in the country for pursuing higher education instead of going abroad, which also contributes to retaining some of the foreign exchange.
According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, between FY2016-17 and FY2021-22, $1.32 billion (or approximately Tk 12,144 crore) was sent from Bangladesh to different countries for higher studies abroad.
The payments for studying abroad have gradually increased over the years — $150.4 million in FY2016-17, $170.7 million in FY2017-18, $196.1 million in FY2018-19, $218 million in FY2019-20, and $243.1 million in FY2020-21.
Growth of private universities
Since the enactment of the Private University Act of 1992, Bangladesh has seen tremendous growth in the number of such universities.
The first one, North South University (NSU), was approved by the government on November 5, 1992. At present, around 3.5 lakh students are pursuing higher education at the 108 private universities around the country, said UGC data.
Between 1991 and 1996, 16 private universities were opened and four more during 1996–2001.
After 2001, the private university concept got a significant boost again as the number of such universities went up to 56 in 2008.
Between 2009 and 2021, 52 more private universities were also opened.
Meanwhile, many entrepreneurs have submitted applications to the Education Ministry seeking approval for 114 more private universities around the country.
Sources said UGC officials have already visited five of the proposed universities and sent reports to the ministry to take the next step.
Of those five universities, BGMEA applied to establish the BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology in Chattogram and former FBCCI president Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed sought approval for the International Islamic University of Science and Technology in Dhaka’s Motijheel.
Also, one Harun-ur-Rashid has sought approval for Srijani University in Jhenaidah. The details of the proposed Teesta University in Rangpur and Khagrachhari University of Science and Technology were unavailable.
Growing employment
According to UGC data, back in 2010, the number of teachers, officers and staff at all private universities around the country was 16,445.
Of them, 9,684 were teachers — 65 per cent full-time and 35 per cent part-time — and 6,761 were officers and staff.
In 2020, according to the latest UGC annual report, a total of 27,858 teachers, officers and employees were working at all private universities across the country.
Of them, 15,277 were teachers — 77 per cent full-time and 23 per cent part-time — and 12,581 were officers and staff.
Talking to The Business Post, Prof Musfiq Mannan Choudhury, chairman of the Board of Trustees at the World University of Bangladesh, said, “The private university sector has seen a huge growth in both business and employment over the last three decades.”
The private universities are saving foreign exchange by creating scopes for higher education for a huge number of students, he said. “But there is a need to give freedom to the entrepreneurs to get a good outcome as the private universities did in India.”
“Nowadays, entrepreneurs need around Tk 10-15 crore on average to open a private university. If the entrepreneurs do not get the government blessing, they will not come into the sector in future,” he added.
Prof Musfiq also suggested keeping representatives of private universities at the UGC or establishing a separate commission for regulating these institutions.
He, however, lamented, “Private universities in India are doing very well because they enjoy more freedom. But private universities here face lots of orders, rules and regulations from the UGC which hamper smooth operations.”
Responding to Prof Musfiq, UGC Director (private university) Omar Faruque told The Business Post, “We are anyone’s enemies. UGC issues directives in line with the law and the authority entrusted with us by the government.”
“The only goal of these directives is to ensure smoother operations, discipline and quality education at all private universities,” he added.
He also said that private universities have been playing a vital role in offering quality higher education to students alongside the country’s public universities.
The growth of the private sector education is economically beneficial to individuals, the government as well as the society, he said.
