The University Grants Commission (UGC) will prioritise Chinese as a third language in the country’s universities, UGC Chairman Professor Mamun Ahmed said on Tuesday.
He said the UGC has taken an initiative to establish language centres at 30 universities to introduce a foreign language alongside Bangla and English in academic programmes. The initiative is expected to begin within the next three months.
The UGC chairman made the remarks during a meeting with a six-member delegation from the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka and China’s Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University at the UGC office.
Professor Mamun Ahmed said 10 universities currently have language centres, and another 20 universities will gradually get such centres, creating opportunities for third-language learning at a total of 30 universities.
“Education, trade, technology and development cooperation between Bangladesh and China are growing rapidly. Therefore, language skills are becoming increasingly important. Chinese is being given the highest priority so that language does not become a barrier to cooperation,” he said.
The UGC chairman said there is a shortage of skilled Chinese language teachers and trainers in Bangladesh. With support from China, advanced training programmes for teachers could be arranged, and Bangladeshi trainers could also be sent to China for further training.
He also said introducing Bangla language courses at Chinese universities would further strengthen educational, research and cultural relations between the two countries.
The meeting discussed improving the quality of higher education, enhancing graduate skills, employment-oriented education, a five-year higher education transformation programme, expanding internship and scholarship opportunities for Bangladeshi students in China, and joint cooperation in technical education.
The Chinese delegation said language skills training for Bangladeshi teachers would be provided under the ‘Global Teachers Training Programme’. It also said plans were underway to implement teacher training programmes for Bangladesh and other South Asian countries.
UGC members Professor Dr Abdullah-Al-Mamun, Secretary Fakhrul Islam, Director of the International Cooperation Division Dr Sultan Mahmud Bhuiyan and other officials attended the meeting.
