Bangladesh was once known as a land of rivers. It is the network of innumerable rivers and rivulets that earned for the country the axiom of a well-watered and well-fruited land inhabited by well-natured peace-loving people. Rivers have not dried up nor has the greenery entirely disappeared. But with time our long-held moral values have faded and everything is being looked at from a business point of view. Education is no exception and it is saddening to note that day by day it has also turned into merchandise. It is difficult to think that there are a few among the more than 56 private Medical and Dental colleges and over 80 private universities in Bangladesh, where, it is widely alleged, degrees can be bought with money. Situation in our mushrooming private schools is no better.
Looking at the public universities' admission tests, one is struck with horror that GPA 5 holders at secondary and higher secondary examinations have failed to secure even qualifying marks for admission to public universities. Every year, the percentage of pass is soaring and the number of students getting GPA 5 is rising dramatically. But unfortunately it does not reflect quality education as we see only two students qualified for admission to the English Department of the University of Dhaka. The situation is almost the same in other public universities. Meanwhile, recently the DU authority took a decision that an intending applicant shall be eligible to sit for admission test of a graduate programme only once after completing the HSC. While medical college authorities still offer a second chance for MBBS programme for the previous year's HSC batch. On the other hand, Business Studies and Arts students have been suffering a lot to get enrolment due to the limited number of seats in the public universities.
The DU authority should reconsider offering a second chance for admission in Business and Arts faculties, because both groups of students have limited facility to get higher education at public universities. However, if the DU authority is determined to stick to its decision, only private universities will reap the benefit.
In recent years the public universities are also offering evening packages, like Executive master of Business Administration (EMBA), Weekends MBA (WMBA) etc to fatten their wallets. It is not altogether a bad idea provided quality education is ensured.
The writer is a EMBA student, Faculty of Business Studies, Jahangirnagar University, Iftekharhossain@gmail.com
Where education is a commodity!
Mohammad Iftekhar Hossain | Published: November 08, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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