The Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to establish a permanent dialogue platform with stakeholders to identify and resolve the academic and administrative crises plaguing the country’s universities.
The commission also plans to launch ongoing training programmes to enhance the skills of university teachers, UGC Chairman Professor Mamun Ahmed announced on Wednesday.
The decision came at an exchange meeting held at the UGC office in Agargaon with vice-chancellors of public and private universities. The meeting was organised under the UGC’s ongoing ‘Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation (HEAT)’ project.
“There is a need to increase opportunities for mutual cooperation and experience sharing among universities to address the various challenges in the higher education sector,” Mamun Ahmed said.
“A common platform will be created where university teachers, administrators, and relevant stakeholders can regularly discuss various problems and possibilities,” he added.
The UGC chairman said the platform will help build professional relationships among teachers and facilitate more effective management of university activities, while also increasing inter-university communication and cooperation.
Mamun Ahmed informed the meeting that new action plans will be formulated in light of the government’s commitments on higher education and the UGC’s existing strategic development plans.
Important guidance on transforming the higher education sector and creating a long-term roadmap was received at a recent workshop with the prime minister, he noted.
Emphasising the need to create skilled and quality graduates to modernise higher education, the UGC chairman said initiatives will be taken to develop students not only for employment but also as entrepreneurs.
The meeting discussed organising management-related training for senior university teachers and foundational training for new teachers. The training will be conducted in residential and hybrid modes.
Also discussed were making training mandatory, linking training to promotions, and creating a pool of domestic and international trainers. The programmes will be implemented under the HEAT project.
Vice-chancellors from Rajshahi University, Chittagong University, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh Open University, Bangladesh Medical University, BUET, North South University, BRAC University, and AIUB, along with UGC members and officials, were present at the meeting.
