Education in a Private University

Bangladesh is a small country with a large population. Moreover, its population increases from year to year. Thus there are far too many students to educate compared to the number of existing universities. In fact, Bangladesh needs more universities to provide for the increasing number of its students. But owing to financial and resource constraints the government is not in a position to set up the requisite number of universities.

Thus in order to meet the challenge of time some capable private individuals have come forward and set up universities in different parts of the country, and, mostly , in the capital city where they cater to the needs of a large number of students and have opened up avenues for spread of education in the country. At present we are going to get education from two streams- one, public universities and the other, private universities.

The public universities are open to all and one has to face hard competition for admission there. Not all the students can get through the rigorous process of admission tests. Education in a public university is cheap but it is very difficult for a student to avail himself/herself of this privilege. Public universities are troubled with politics and violence. Sometimes they are closed down sine die to avoid clash between the rival groups of students. Such closures badly affect academic progress and create a critical situation of session jam.

This is the age of privatisation. The wealthy persons are investing a lot of money in the education sector. As a result, private universities are growing in number from year to year. But the private universities are meant for the moneyed people.

A student can easily get himself/herself admitted to a private university by dint of money. Since there is no students' politics and session jam, the conscious and the able persons are easily impressed by the private universities.

They feel inclined to these universities because of the small number of students and the calm and serene environment congenial to academic pursuits. In order to get some extra facilities, the moneyed students are easily moved by the alluring advertisements of the private universities.

But one should not lose sight of the fact that private universities are sponsored with a commercial motive. In some of them education is treated as only a commodity of which the students are the customers.

The sponsors seek to produce the commodity at a minimum cost and sell it at the maximum price. Thus most of the universities do not have their own campus. They lack in infrastructural facilities.

They do not have adequate co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Library and laboratory facilities are also not adequate. In some of them there is no regular teaching staff and academic activities are run by part-time teachers.

Even allegations are there that some of them are mere certificate selling agencies. It is likely that at the incipient stage there may be some drawbacks in the private universities. But, by and large, they are rendering quite a laudable service in the education sector of the country. Some of them maintain very high standard of education and can rub shoulders with high class universities of the world.

In order to put the private universities on an even keel adequate and effective supervision should be exercised upon their functioning so that they may become worthy of their names and maintain a high standard of education. 

In conclusion, the private sector initiative to impart higher education is a timely step in the direction of national development. It can be rightly expected that they would be in a position to meet effectively the challenges of higher education of the country in not too distant a future.

It is encouraging to find that the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh has brought itself, with all zest and enthusiasm, to bear upon the private universities so that they may play a vital role as the highest seats of education. Let us hope that education in private universities will fulfil the aspirations of the nation.