Scanty research allocation to stifle progress of higher edn at DU

Maximum amount doesn't exceed 1.0pc of total budget outlay

FE Team | Published: April 07, 2018 22:17:36

Sajibur Rahman
Allocation for the research purposes at Dhaka University (DU) remains very poor over the years, hampering advanced and knowledge-based higher education at the country's premier public university, academics and students have said.
As a result, the university is unable to create required number of quality researchers and promote innovative knowledge to cope with the emerging global competition in respect of higher education.
Available DU data reveals that the maximum allocation for research purposes remains less than 1.0 per cent of its total budget outlay for nearly a decade which, according to experts, is one of the lowest in that of universities in the South Asia.
In the 2008- 2009 fiscal year (FY), only Tk21.19 million was allocated for research purposes against the DU's total budget of Tk 1.64 billion. But nearly Tk13 million was spent.
In the 2016-17 FY, only Tk 53 million was allocated for research purposes against the university's total budget of Tk 6.64 billion which was only 0.80 per cent less than that of the 2008- 2009 FY.
The data also shows that only 0. 84 per cent was spent for research against the total budget in the 2008-09 FY which was more than the allocation of the 2016-17 FY.
In the fiscal years 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, the total budgets were Tk 1.64 billion, Tk 1.84 billion, Tk2.30 billion, Tk2.77 billion, Tk3.06 billion, Tk3.14 billion, Tk3.73 billion, Tk4.25 billion and Tk6.64 billion respectively.
In the fiscal years 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, the expenditures on research purposes were Tk 13.07 million, Tk 12.06 million, Tk10.03 million, Tk12.04 million, Tk14.04 million, Tk16.04 million and Tk 14.02 million which were 0.74 per cent, 0.55 per cent, 0.37 per cent, 0.40 per cent, 0.46 per cent, 0.43 per cent and 0.33 per cent respectively.
Students, teachers and educationists expressed their dissatisfaction over the poor state of research, fearing that the university, which is called Oxford of the East, would lose its glory and might further lag behind in the race of quality education.
Rukon, a fourth year student of the Biochemistry department of DU, told the FE that he could hardly engage in any research work in the last three years.
His department students remain busy just in the classroom activities, he added.
Knowledge contribution of DU in the global perspective is hardly found though the higher education is being internationalised or globalised, some teachers claimed to the FE on condition of anonymity.
Though DU is going to be a century-old university soon, it is lagging behind than many middle-east universities even Dubai University, that is very unfortunate, they noted.
A university teacher should have a research degree, but many students are becoming teachers at DU without qualification, the teachers commented.
Dr Syed Abdul Hamid, professor and director at the Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka, told the FE that research fund should be at least five percent of the total budget of the university to make it global standard.
If the current allocation for research is not fully used, the university should find out why it is unable to use the fund fully, he added.
The main feature of the university's education is that the teachers will create new knowledge along with teaching, Dr. Hamid said.
As the leading university, DU should give more emphasis on research; one way of doing so is to increase collaboration with relevant industries and sectors like developed countries, he said.
The scholarships for Mphil and PhD students should also be increased in number and amount, the professor said.
Research Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem told the FE as DU is one of the old universities in the South-Asian, the authorities should focus on it more.
Eminent educationist Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam, also a retired professor of the University of Dhaka, told the FE that the expenditure on research works of DU is poor for decades.
A university cannot be recongised without extensive and substantial research, he said.
The research grants for India's Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi, Pakistan' Quaid-i-Azam University and Sri Lanka's University of Colombo are substantially higher than that of the University of Dhaka, the professor said.
University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan told the FE that no university informed them that they need more allocation for research purposes.
"f they informed the UGC, then it would appeal to the government for more allocation accordingly," he said.
It is very unfortunate that the universities are not spending their allocated budget on research, though their main work is to create new knowledge fully, the UGC chairman said.
DU Treasure Prof Dr M Kamal Uddin told the FE that research should always be competitive.
Now the university teachers are getting research facilities from internal and external sources, which are estimated at Tk80-100 million, he added.
"Our revenue budget on research is spent on the research centres of the university," he said.
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