It was the seventies. I was a student at the Imperial College. I needed an endorsement in my passport. The High Commission was across the road from the college. I walked in and was directed to the top floor of the building. It was a long climb up the winding stairs. The officer was very friendly. I talked about difficult location of the office at the attic. Sportingly he said, education being the highest priority it has been placed on the top floor.
Education is top priority of the country. Student politics makes it the most talked about item in national agenda. Thanks to deregulation, the number of universities in the country has risen sharply. And so has the number of graduates. But, to the contrary, the quality of education has declined. It hurts when our institutions are compared against their peers in the region. Dhaka University rules supreme within the country. No other institution has yet been able to match it. But across the border this superiority takes a back seat in comparison. Comparable universities have risen.
The growth of a nation is linked to the quality of education in the country. Bangladesh has recently progressed into a middle-income country from an earlier low-income tier. The rating is based on its economic health divided into three categories from poor to middle to rich. Professor Michael Porter of Harvard University relates this progression from one to another on effective utilisation of internal resources leading to the growth of national income. Progression from poor to middle requires efficient utilization of the factors of production such as land and labour. Progression into the next stage of development is factored by the quality of human resources. This quality is a function of education system in the country.
Education in a country can be divided into three categories, namely, primary, middle, and tertiary. The first two stages are closely controlled by their regulatory bodies, either national or international, in terms of content, design, and delivery. Though schools vary in terms of their ability to perform, the system keeps close check on the total process through schemes such as centralized examination. The tertiary level of education is free from most such control.
The tertiary education is offered under two separate streams namely, public, and private. Each public university is an entity with own management and curriculum as per set standards. These are funded by the government. The private universities are akin to businesses, initiated and controlled by their sponsors. The income is derived from student fees. There is strict regulation on the use of generated income unlike general businesses.
There is a regulatory body supervising the operation of private universities. It can be difficult with over a hundred private universities in the country, more so due to inadequacy of resources and regulatory powers. Each private university has its own syllabus and examination system. Though there is a general framework for the academic curriculum, follow-up on the delivery in the classrooms and later evaluation processes is minimal. Consequently, each such university has its style of engagement leading to variance in quality between universities. In many of them students rarely fail. The reasons vary, one being reluctance to displease the fee-paying guardians.
Among other factors that adversely affect performance of private universities, absence of corporate governance through overlapping ownership and management can be a reason for concern. Further, many universities do not have adequate resources in terms of faculty, research, and support services affecting performance. The weakness is further magnified by the quality of intake. These students, besides poor academic credentials, are also weak in complementary ability such as in English Language and Computer Literacy. Failure of the universities in improving the weaknesses is reflected in their placement failure in the job market. The corporate world today insists on proficiency in English Language and Computer Literacy, besides academic performance, from their recruits. Most graduates fail to scale the written recruitment tests that are norm in the corporate world today.
It is not the number but quality that matters most at the second stage of economic growth. As we turn out university graduates lacking the basic quality requirements, it has a damaging effect on the economy in terms of resources wasted, physical as well as material. It is not lack of jobs but the inability to meet job requirement that stands in the door-way. Much awaited accreditation could partially solve the problem. Yet there will be universities that fail to meet the minimum quality requirement. One solution could be to lump all such universities in one group to be supervised as per National University format. Further, to enhance the scope of employment more non-formal courses such as training programmes run by training houses may be redesigned to align them with the university programmes. Connecting with needs of the country is what matters most.
chowdhury.igc@gmail.com