UIU VC Dr M Rezwan Khan tells The New Nation: Proper implementation of rules vital to make private universities more accountable
Staff Reporter :
Eminent educationist and Vice Chancellor of United International University (UIU) Prof Dr M Rezwan Khan in an interview to The New Nation recently said, proper implementation of rules is utmost important to make private universities more accountable and dynamic and at the same time, accreditation of the degree programs offered by the universities both public and private by an independent authority can improve the situation significantly. The VC an wars below:
Q. How did you start your own career ?
Ans: I started my career as a lecturer in EEE Department, BUET in 1980.
Q. Do you think that private universities maintain the standard of education and what about your own university ?
Ans: There is a mixed feeling about the standard of education in private universities. Some of the private universities are doing pretty good , much better than some of the newly established public universities. I believe that United International University is one of the top ranking private universities in Bangladesh.
Q. Are you facing any problem on running your university smoothly ?
Ans: None so far.
Q. Are you satisfied with the support of Government as well as University Grant Commission(UGC) ?
Ans: Whenever the issue of support of Government or UGC is raised, I believe that there is no dearth for good will from their side, but some of the vital issues are not addressed. As for example, private universities are defined in the constitution as non-profit making organizations but they are not exempted from income tax based on the suspicion that some of the private universities are siphoning out money. If this allegation is true, the perpetrators should be brought to justice. A collective punishment by imposing income tax on all the universities is contrary to justice and fairness. It slows down the growth of the private universities. In some situations, the quality or capability of a university is solely judged by the existence of permanent campus without giving any consideration to the actual quality of education. This has been done in deciding the eligibility of a private university to apply for the World Bank funded HEQEP project.
1. According to you, what steps should be taken by the Government to make private universities more accountable and dynamic ?
Proper implementation of rules is of utmost importance. At the same time, accreditation of the degree programs offered by the universities (both public and private) by an independent authority can improve the situation significantly.
2. What is your opinion / comments about TIB’s recent remarks on private universities including sale of certificates ?
Ans: As I have already mentioned, there are allegations against some of the universities for not maintaining the educational standard and indulging in corrupt practices in collaboration with some government agencies. In a country like Bangladesh, where corruption is rampant, it is highly unusual that the Ministry of education or UGC is absolutely free from corruption. But I have confidence on the leadership of the ministry and the UGC and believe that allegations will be properly investigated and appropriate steps will be taken to reduce corruption.
Q. Why your institution/ university is different from others ?
Ans. Our university has a number of very special features that makes a difference
a) Unlike many of the established private universities there is no student quota for the members of the Board of Trustees and student admission is absolutely fair.
b) We provide the highest amount of scholarship every year to the poor and the meritorious students; the no amount was Tk. 10 crore in 2013.
c) We maintain a high standard of educational quality and have created provisions for our students and faculties to visit European Universities under Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program funded by European Union. UIU has so far been awarded with six Erasmus Mundus scholarships schemes ( along with other Asian and European universities) amounting nearly 20 million Euro. UIU has so far sent nearly 100 students and faculties to Europe for higher education and training.
d) UIU is pioneer in many of the research and development activities – a primary requirement for a good quality educational institution. UIU has been a familiar name in renewable energy, image and signal processing, and biomedical engineering. A number of international collaborative research projects are going on with funding from EPSRC (UK), DFID (UK), GIZ (Germany) and number of universities from North America and Europe.
e) UIU is vigorously involved in arranging co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to develop leadership qualities amongst the students and prepare them for the market at home and abroad.
Q. Who is the sponsor or what is the funding source of your university ?
Ans. UIU has been sponsored by United Group, a prominent business group with diverse business activities like power stations, hospital, pharmaceutical industry, land development etc. United Group has always been a support to UIU, but UIU’s main source of income is the tuition fees collected from the students.
Eminent educationist and Vice Chancellor of United International University (UIU) Prof Dr M Rezwan Khan in an interview to The New Nation recently said, proper implementation of rules is utmost important to make private universities more accountable and dynamic and at the same time, accreditation of the degree programs offered by the universities both public and private by an independent authority can improve the situation significantly. The VC an wars below:
Q. How did you start your own career ?
Ans: I started my career as a lecturer in EEE Department, BUET in 1980.
Q. Do you think that private universities maintain the standard of education and what about your own university ?
Ans: There is a mixed feeling about the standard of education in private universities. Some of the private universities are doing pretty good , much better than some of the newly established public universities. I believe that United International University is one of the top ranking private universities in Bangladesh.
Q. Are you facing any problem on running your university smoothly ?
Ans: None so far.
Q. Are you satisfied with the support of Government as well as University Grant Commission(UGC) ?
Ans: Whenever the issue of support of Government or UGC is raised, I believe that there is no dearth for good will from their side, but some of the vital issues are not addressed. As for example, private universities are defined in the constitution as non-profit making organizations but they are not exempted from income tax based on the suspicion that some of the private universities are siphoning out money. If this allegation is true, the perpetrators should be brought to justice. A collective punishment by imposing income tax on all the universities is contrary to justice and fairness. It slows down the growth of the private universities. In some situations, the quality or capability of a university is solely judged by the existence of permanent campus without giving any consideration to the actual quality of education. This has been done in deciding the eligibility of a private university to apply for the World Bank funded HEQEP project.
1. According to you, what steps should be taken by the Government to make private universities more accountable and dynamic ?
Proper implementation of rules is of utmost importance. At the same time, accreditation of the degree programs offered by the universities (both public and private) by an independent authority can improve the situation significantly.
2. What is your opinion / comments about TIB’s recent remarks on private universities including sale of certificates ?
Ans: As I have already mentioned, there are allegations against some of the universities for not maintaining the educational standard and indulging in corrupt practices in collaboration with some government agencies. In a country like Bangladesh, where corruption is rampant, it is highly unusual that the Ministry of education or UGC is absolutely free from corruption. But I have confidence on the leadership of the ministry and the UGC and believe that allegations will be properly investigated and appropriate steps will be taken to reduce corruption.
Q. Why your institution/ university is different from others ?
Ans. Our university has a number of very special features that makes a difference
a) Unlike many of the established private universities there is no student quota for the members of the Board of Trustees and student admission is absolutely fair.
b) We provide the highest amount of scholarship every year to the poor and the meritorious students; the no amount was Tk. 10 crore in 2013.
c) We maintain a high standard of educational quality and have created provisions for our students and faculties to visit European Universities under Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Program funded by European Union. UIU has so far been awarded with six Erasmus Mundus scholarships schemes ( along with other Asian and European universities) amounting nearly 20 million Euro. UIU has so far sent nearly 100 students and faculties to Europe for higher education and training.
d) UIU is pioneer in many of the research and development activities – a primary requirement for a good quality educational institution. UIU has been a familiar name in renewable energy, image and signal processing, and biomedical engineering. A number of international collaborative research projects are going on with funding from EPSRC (UK), DFID (UK), GIZ (Germany) and number of universities from North America and Europe.
e) UIU is vigorously involved in arranging co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to develop leadership qualities amongst the students and prepare them for the market at home and abroad.
Q. Who is the sponsor or what is the funding source of your university ?
Ans. UIU has been sponsored by United Group, a prominent business group with diverse business activities like power stations, hospital, pharmaceutical industry, land development etc. United Group has always been a support to UIU, but UIU’s main source of income is the tuition fees collected from the students.