Alaul Alam :
Irrespective of most countries, developing or developed ones, they have adopted private university systems as a part of higher education.
Private universities are mostly non-profit organizations not only contributing heavily to research and education but also to the production of quality graduates pivotal to creating a knowledge-based global economy.
Like many other countries in Bangladesh, the private university system has helped significantly bring a revolution in the country’s higher education.
In this day of age, private universities are facilitating higher education apart from the public ones which had the monopoly of providing higher education a few decades ago.
With the ratification of the Private University Act-1992, the country opened up a new dimension in the realm of higher education which ended up the monopoly of public universities and saw the commencement of private universities.
Subsequently, in 1998 the Act followed an amendment to remove some inadequacies and prevent misuse of privileges granted by the existing one.
The last amendment of the Private University Act held in 2010 emphasizing accountability of private universities in ensuring quality assurance, human resource development, social service and good governance under the coordination and cooperation among the Ministry of Education, University Grant Commission (UGC) and the Private Universities.
Although different studies have found that there were mainly two reasons—the increase of the demand of higher education against the existing capacity of the public universities to cope with and the challenges to address the scarcity of public fund and other resources to meet the rapidly increasing demand, that fostered the establishment of private higher education system in the country.
But in creating an environment of competitive higher education in the country the initiative of the establishment of private universities is worth noticing.
It is evident that on one hand the private entrepreneurs, philanthropists and social leaders can find new opportunities to serve the society by establishing private universities.
On the other hand, public-private partnership can see more scope to fulfil the increasing demand and supply for higher education. There must be no alternative to the coexistence of public and private universities to cooperate and compete to provide high quality higher education.
Over the last three decades privatization of higher education has not only widened the accessibility of students to higher education addressing the challenges of the inadequate seats of public universities but also mobilized skilled, efficient and competent manpower contributing to accelerating the country’s national economy.
In recent years some private universities of the country have secured position in the QS world ranking, even in some cases they have topped many public universities in case of the world ranking status, which corresponds to the prestigious rise of private universities amid the higher education landscape.
It is good to see that private universities are contributing greatly in promoting women’s education and empowerment in Bangladesh. Apart from this they work on addressing gender disparities which encourage more women to pursue higher education and enter the workforce.
The participation of the educated women in the job market not only contributes to improving household income, health, and education outcomes for future generations but also positively influences economic growth of the country.
Different sources estimate that nearly 450,000students are receiving higher education from so far 110 private universities in the country competing with the students of public universities. However, many private universities face resource constraints which disrupt the key purposes of their establishment.
Besides, adopting the corporate nature and following the principles of cost reduction and profit maximization disrupt the culture of openness, inquiry, diversity, research and limitless learning although they should be kept above all other considerations.
A decade back it was seen that students who had affluent economic backgrounds saw the access to private higher education because of its comparatively high tuition.
But with a few exceptions the other private universities are offering reasonable tuition fees for which many students with mediocre family backgrounds see the accessibility to receiving education from there.
On top of that, degree completion in time-bound framework and scope of studying market demanding subjects have enticed students and guardians towards private higher education.
The recent data published by the University Grants Commission (UGC) shows that in private universities a substantial 43.90 percent of students have enrolled in engineering and technology programs, followed by 22.00 percent in commerce.
These two streams correspond to higher job assurance for students. In contrast, only 3.49 percent of students are enrolled in social sciences, and 11.07 percent are in arts and humanities due to limited job prospects.
Apart from prioritizing need-based curriculum, private universities are concentrating on the language skills development of students with fostering presentation and critical thinking skills to cope with the highly competitive global job market. Many studies have shown that alignment of courses and curricula of private universities with the demands of the job market, emphasizing practical orientation has garnered appreciation from parents, students.
Research and innovations of some private universities have heightened the prestige of the country to the global higher education landscape. But we cannot deny that many private universities still struggle to take their level to a desirable stage when the country will see the revolution of qualitative and qualitative higher education all together.
However, ensuring inclusive contribution of public and private universities is highly appreciated to create quality human resources with their knowledge and skills to create a knowledge-based economy.
But challenges are many in doing so. Findings from different sources claim that a scarcity of capable, qualified, and compassionate teachers in both public and private universities along with limited facilities for libraries, laboratories, research, and other amenities required for quality education at the university level are the major drawbacks in ensuring quality education for creating efficient graduates.
Obviously, private universities are found proactive to maintain a linkage with the industrial sectors. They often arrange seminars and workshops and invite the CEOs from different renowned companies and associations in their universities.
The invited guests from business sectors sharetheir experiences with students and discuss the type of graduates they require.Not only that, through industry-academia participation the universities align their curricula with the needs of the job market which demonstrates skill-based education with pragmatic outcomes for students’ career purposes.
As the global higher education undergoes rapid transformation in the advent of fourth industrial revolution, it is very imperative to address the challenges to cope with the evolving landscape of higher education. Undeniably, the role of private universities is worth seeing in shaping the educational landscape and driving economic development of the country.
(The author teaches at the Department of English, Prime University. He is also a Research Scholar at the IBS. Email: [email protected])