UGC issues public notice regarding 18 private universities

UNB :
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a public notice on Thursday regarding actions to be taken against 18 private universities that failed to shift all activities to permanent campuses within the stipulated time frame.
The notice stated that in view of the letter to the commission, it has been decided to stop the admission of new students in all programs in four private universities of the country as no visible steps have been taken to transfer all the activities to the permanent campus and to build the campus within the stipulated period.
The universities are Stamford University Bangladesh, Asa University, Prime Asia University and Victoria University.
The admission of new students in the temporary campuses of State University and Manarat International University will be completely closed.
However, the programs conducted at the permanent campuses of these two universities will continue as usual.
In view of the commission’s letter, Dhaka International University, Royal University, Southeast University, City University, The Millennium University and Bangladesh University have been given time till March 31, 2023 to transfer their entire activities including educational programs to the permanent campus, considering the visible progress regarding the transfer to the permanent campus and construction of the campus.
In case of failure to transfer all programs including educational programs to the permanent campus within the mentioned time frame, the admission of new students in all programs will be completely stopped from 1 April 2023.
The notification also said that considering the visible progress and written commitment regarding the transfer to the permanent campus and the construction of the campus, Brac University, University of Development Alternative, Green University, Uttara University, Presidency University and The People’s University will be transferred to the permanent campus including education programs by June 30, 2023.
In case of failure to transfer the entire program including educational programs to the permanent campus within the stipulated time frame, the admission of new students in all programs will be completely stopped from July 1, 2023 in the concerned universities.
All temporary campuses or buildings other than the permanent campus of these universities will be considered illegal.
According to the public notification, the University Grants Commission issued instructions on April 11, 2022 to transfer the temporary charter to the permanent campus by December 31, 2022.
The UGC at that time declared the temporary campuses of 22 private universities illegal and said they would not be allowed to admit new students unless they shifted to permanent campuses by December 31.
UGC Member Professor Dr Biswajit Chanda had told Dhaka Tribune the universities must shift to a permanent campus within 12 years since getting approval as per the Private University Act.
During the extension period, the university authorities would have to shift all academic and administrative activities to the permanent campuses, UGC Director (Private University Division) Md Omar Faruque had said.
The extensions would be reviewed on March 31 and June 30, according to the UGC.