Another public university in Barisal

PUBLIC universities are predominantly funded by the government, as opposed to private universities that are financed by private initiatives. Whether a national university is considered public varies from one country (or region) to another, largely depending on the education landscape of that country.

There are 40 public universities in Bangladesh. These universities do not deal directly with the government, but with the University Grants Commission, which in turn deals with the government. Recently, many private universities are established under the Private University Act of 1992.

There is a public university each in Barisal and Patuakhali. The name of the university in Patuakhali is Patuakhali Science & Technology University (PSTU). There are many faculties in this university and Veterinary Medicine (DVM) is one of them. All the activities of the faculty are done in Barisal as it was previously under a college there. The faculty was put under Patuakhali Science & Technology University in 2008. The actual distance of the faculty from the main campus is about 70 kilometres and the teachers of the faculty are required to travel to the main campus frequently on different businesses. Besides, approximately 50 students are admitted into this faculty every year and most of the students are meritorious. The area of the outer campus is also bigger than is actually required for a single faculty. Communicating with the main campus is somewhat difficult and one has to move by bus or other vehicles. As all important activities are performed in the main campus, it takes an unusually long time to get anything done from there. In circumstances like these, the concerned authorities should think about setting up another public university in Barisal and adding other faculties to it to accommodate higher number of students. It will help many meritorious students of the area who can not step out of their native places due to financial limitations.

Sumon Kumar Paul

Village: Naihati ; District: Khulna

[email protected]