UGC should rank universities

This is in reference to an editorial on performance of local universities published in the Financial Express on October 29, 2018.

It is a matter of great dissatisfaction that not a single university from Bangladesh was among the top 100 universities of Asia. Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranked the universities of Asia for 2018 recently. In the ranking, Dhaka University secured 127th and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) got 175th position. Three Bangladeshi private universities were ranked after this.

If this kind of annual ranking was conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC), it would have encouraged the academic institutions in Bangladesh to perform better. Also, a central admission test for all universities can be considered. Such a procedure would reduce the suffering of students, most of whom sit anywhere between six to seven admission tests at the universities of their choice. The ranking system by the UGC would also make it easier for the government to allocate budget for public universities based on their performances.

In the developed countries, ranking of universities are done annually. The performances are evaluated based on research and publication, teacher-student ratio, budget per student, infrastructure facility, technological update, library facility etc. Some private organisations also have rankings of most reputed universities across regions like Asia, North America and the world. Being cited in a list of this sort is a matter of joy and pride for any university. The topmost universities have the chance to attract the best students, researchers and academicians globally.

The UGC can be given this job of ranking the universities. For this to happen, related laws need to be amended. Such a step will also help local universities to do better in global rankings.

Md. Zillur Rahaman

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd.

Lalmohan Branch, Bhola.

[email protected]