A call to reform the public universities

In Bangladesh, the opportunity to study at a public university is like gold dust. Due to obvious reasons, every year a large number of students embrace the battle of securing it, and in the end, few fortunate ones become successful in their quest. However, whether public universities can nurture the abilities of their students properly continues to be questioned. Today, we explore reform suggestions that can potentially change public universities for the better.

Digitisation of administrative procedures and services: "Come after Lunch" is a phrase that every public university student is acutely familiar with, and very unwillingly so. Most of the official work, including admission, applications, payment of fees, obtaining certificates, or getting signatures, usually includes standing in a long queue or waiting hours after hours, without any idea of when exactly your work will be done. Sometimes, it takes even months for the completion of a simple task or a mistake correction. The situation has become so bothersome that digitisation of administrative procedures has become a necessity. The administrative system should be digitalised to the point that any task that can be done digitally, will be done digitally. Digitisation would free students from the hassles of the Registrar Building, saving time for students and officials alike.

Creation of on-campus jobs for students: In Bangladeshi society, the concept of working students is not yet normalised, leaving limited work opportunities for students. Moreover, the systematic barriers working students suffer from, such as scheduling work around examinations and classes, are seldom taken into consideration. Creation of on-campus job opportunities for students can be an effective solution to this problem.

On-campus jobs designed for students are flexible and don't hamper academic duties. It will not only provide students with earnings but also with experiences required later in their careers. Students can be given positions such as teaching assistants, research assistants, resident assistants, and working positions in libraries and reception.

Improvement of state-industry-academia relations: For the well-rounded development of a country, state-industry-academia relations are of crucial importance."Industry-academia collaboration ensures that the academic curriculum is aligned with the needs of the industry. Many times, states and industries sponsor research initiatives that they deem necessary. Universities, in turn, provide research support. It fosters innovation and research in academia, and results in improved products and services. Their partnership also creates increased internships, earning, and career opportunities for students." Abrar Zarif Abir, an electrical and electronic engineering student from the University of Dhaka, shares his opinion with the writer of this article. "Strong state-industry-academia relations are a prerequisite for a country to be holistically developed, globally competitive, economically stronger, and powerful," he adds.

Prioritising research and enhancing research culture through systematic change: A nation cannot develop without research and innovation. Cultivation of knowledge is the primary aim of academia. However, in Bangladesh, research is yet to be the primary norm in universities, with an underdeveloped research culture and scarce participation of students.

In the fiscal year 2024-2025, The University Grants Commission allocated a budget of Tk 1.8865 billion (188.65 crore) to 55 universities for research, with the University of Dhaka receiving the highest research budget of Tk 200 million (20 crore). Research applications and funding procedures should be free from bureaucracy. Collaboration across departments and disciplines should be made easy. Partnerships with industries must be strengthened for increased research funding and commercialisation of research findings. Research culture can be enhanced through public lectures on research outcomes, regular assessment, and encouraging research by providing awards and recognition to impactful research projects. Above all, student involvement must be encouraged and increased by allocating funds and providing incentives, fellowships, and research assistantships. Public universities in Bangladesh must prioritise research and create a research culture through systematic changes.

Ensuring budget transparency: Though the allocated budget for each university is made public, the detailed expenditure is not disclosed. Ensuring budget transparency is a necessary step in combating corruption and ensuring quality education. "Exactly what amount of money was spent on which specific necessity should be disclosed to the students in a detailed manner. The third party partnerships in providing services or buying equipment should be unbiased. Moreover, an official student body should exist to cross-check if the purpose of the distributed budget is accomplished. Students should be integrated into the whole process. It can be done through a student parliament that is free from the influence of mainstream political parties," suggests Shihab Shahriar Taufiq, an undergraduate student at Jahangirnagar University.

Making resources and information available to students through a well-maintained website: When we inquired what kind of reforms students wish for in public universities, Nafis Fuad, a student of the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, shared, "Most of the renowned universities in any country of the world have well-maintained websites that are useful, which cannot be said to be true for Bangladeshi public universities."

He also highlights the information gap students have to suffer from. "Information on the research institutes, foreign universities, libraries, and other organisations the university is affiliated with or collaborates with, is not available to the students. If these resources were outlined in a website or prospectus by the university, we could avail free services, books, journals, research, and career opportunities easily. So, what's happening is the resource is there, but students cannot take advantage of it because of a lack of provided information."

Provision of effective counselling for students: Psychological counselling is one of the indispensable facilities that public university students are entitled to. However, on one hand, social stigmatisation keeps counselling services from being normalised, on the other, the provision of counselling services in public universities remains insufficient compared to the necessities of students. Reformation measures should be taken such that students can avail counselling services easily. The quality of provided service should be improved.

Flexibility of rules in women's dormitories: In some public universities, specialised rules are enforced in women's dormitories, such as time restrictions of arrival and departure, not allowing mothers and female relatives of the students inside as guests, not allowing non-resident female students inside the dormitories, and so on. Often, the rules are enforced so strictly that they become more harmful than beneficial to the students. Individual circumstances and opinions of each student must be considered while enforcing such rules in women's dormitories. As per necessity, rules should be reformed and made more flexible.

Greater emphasis on equity and safety: Public universities should put greater emphasis on ensuring equity and safety, as the future of the nation is being shaped by them. A specialised body consisting of experts and professionals can be formed to act towards violence, discrimination, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment, and help the victims seek punishments. The specialised body may also carry out year-round awareness-building initiatives in and around campus.

While the road to reform is an unending one, being constantly reformed itself to meet the ever-arriving new challenges, the aforementioned reform suggestions could consist of the initial steps in re-imagining higher education in developing Bangladesh.

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