The name and fame of private universities

Farook Ahmed :
Seductive names, self-claimed fame, lowly-paid teachers, fleeced students, low-grade education, promise of freebies and facile degrees are the stock-in-trade of many of our private universities. We have now 78 of such educational institutions of which at least 65 are stark shame for the name of a university. Even some universities ludicrously claim parity with the renowned foreign universities. This they do with clear intention of deceiving parents and hoodwinking the students. Our parents are gullible and students are credulous by nature. So they easily fall victim to the catchy and persuasive billboards and regularly published print and electronic advertisements of these private universities. Majority of these universities do not have their own land and buildings which is an essential pre-requisite for establishing their institutions.
The greater numbers of them are housed in hired make-shift buildings which are not befitting even for a warehouse. Interior conditions of some universities are worse than cattle pound. Students are crammed in small rooms and lectured by incompetent teachers. Many classrooms are windowless and lack toilet facilities. It causes untold sufferings to the girl students. Proper light and ventilation is almost non-existent in many of the classrooms. This creates serious health hazards for students and they are routinely afflicted with typical diseases. On an average 30% students regularly miss their classes on account of physical indisposition caused due to dingy and insalubrious atmosphere inside the classrooms and adjacent premises. Many other universities have set up illegal branches at every nook and cranny of Dhaka city. Even a casual passer-by will find branches of many universities put up on grocery shops, barbers salon, hotel and restaurants that exhibit a shoddy view to the eyes of every sensible person.
A few buildings of private universities are so rickety and dilapidated that, God forbid, may collapse at any time causing catastrophic disaster. Owners of private universities (Euphemistically they are called as board of trustees) Consider their institutions as money-spinning organization. Their prime priority is to line their own pockets and the welfare of students is their least or no priority. Most private universities are run on the whims of the so-called owners. So optimal academic ambience is almost absent in majority of private universities. Financial irregularities, nepotism and embezzlements are rampant in all these institutions. They neither keep correct accounts of their income and expenditures nor they do the compulsory audit of their all financial transactions twice in a year.
Tax evasion is a common phenomenon of a private university. Money and fees collected from students are deposited in the personal bank accounts of the owners. This is a clear contravention of private university acts. The owners fix up the course fees at their own sweet will. They charge extremely high fees from the students. A survey reveals that our private universities’ course or semester fees are the highest in comparison to India, Srilanka, Nepal, Burma and Bhutan. Our neighboring countries keep their private universities on tight leash. Laws regulate the functioning of their private academic institutions. But the situation in our country is diametrically opposite. Here the owners bend laws and they keep the laws under their thumbs.
We must have protective laws for our private university students. Teachers who are employed in private universities are strikingly ill-paid. Their salary is so meager that they cannot afford to maintain even a one child family. The teachers have no job security. They remain employed so long as the owners are pleased with them. Their promotions hinges on the whimsical pleasure of the owners. We cannot expect quality education from lowly -paid teachers. Many private universities have competent and capable faculties but their spirits and zeal are dampened because of the whipping of dire poverty. All private universities must have UGC approved decent pay scale for teachers. This will obviously ensure just and uniform pay for teachers.
A private university thrives on the fees of students and service of teachers. Here the students are mulcted and teachers are under-paid. High course fees are really unbearable burdens on the heads of our parents. UGC may reasonably determine the course fees of all private universities. This measure will invariably stymie the greed of owners and lighten the burdens of parents.
(The writer is ex DIG of police)