UGC Chair Visits Bangladesh

UGC Chairperson, Prof. Dr. Bhim Prasad Subedi, participated in the seminar entitled "Higher Education and Research in Bangladesh: Constraints and Prospects" organized by Chittagong University Teachers association (CUTA), Bangladesh from the 16th of February to the 19th of February, 2020. The seminar highlighted the prospects of higher education in South Asia in General and Bangladesh in particular. Participants discussed the constraints, prospects and what can be done to remove the constraints to ensure quality higher education in future. The consensus was on making higher education research oriented and developing a culture of research and collaboration at national, regional and global level would make higher education more meaningful. Vice Chancellors and several members of different universities and educational institutes of Bangladesh participated in the seminar. Sharing Nepal’s experience on higher education the Chairperson called attention to the Quality Assurance and Accreditation (QAA) status of the campuses in Nepal. He stated that Quality Assurance and Accreditation is the mission to improve the quality of higher education in Nepal. The UGC, Nepal intends to ensure that all higher education institutions in the country are in the process of QAA assessment for accreditation by the end of 2022. During the seminar, challenges faced in higher education in Nepal were also highlighted. During the course of the seminar, it was also noted that challenges faced in higher education in Bangladesh and Nepal were similar. There is an increased flight of huge amounts of capital to foreign countries because the number of students leaving the country in search of quality education is increasing. A lack of quality education and opportunities in the area of technical education was noted despite an increase in the number of higher education institutions and student enrollment in both the countries. Along with the status of QAA and research activities carried out in Higher Education, the chairperson also shared the experience of implementing Higher Education Reforms Project (HERP) under the assistance of The World Bank. The status of research in higher education and priority areas for research in Nepal were highlighted. As identified by the National Planning Commission, the priority areas include -energy, transportation, tourism, forest, environment, agriculture, urban development and foreign employment and social development.