Government should finance private universities

Private Universities are those higher education institutions established privately by a group of people or an organisation under Private University Act, 1992 (Amended 1998) that was passed on 9th August in 1992. The present scenario of private universities reveals a rising trend of obtaining higher education in the country.
Quality higher education needs to be restored to create and advance knowledge, educate and train responsible, enlightened citizens and qualified specialists, without whom no nation can progress economically, socially, culturally or politically (UNESCO: 1998). On the basis of these realities like other countries Bangladesh also puts emphasize on higher education and there are a good number of public universities to ensure higher education. But compared to the number of students passed in higher secondary level, seats in the public universities are limited. The number of public universities is not sufficient to meet the increasing demand of higher education which leads the emergence of private universities.
Another motto of establishing private university was to tackle the trend of leaving country towards abroad for obtaining higher education which was prevailed in eighties when students not only for higher education even for secondary and higher secondary education were admitted to schools and colleges in neighboring India and Singapore. Nowadays 100 percent O and A level students don't go abroad, 63 percent stay in the country and 40 percent get enrolled in private universities. Private universities are saving the foreign exchanges by enrolling a large number of Bangladeshi students, who otherwise would spend their money outside the country. In this way this sector is saving 100 thousand crore taka in terms of foreign exchange which is nearly 60 percent of our annual budget (Prof Neaz Ahmed AIUB-Daily Sun Dec, 4, 2011). So, private universities are not only saving our precious foreign exchange reserve, they are keeping the sons and daughters of the soil in the country also.
Now in the private universities in Bangladesh,  students pursue their studies in subjects ranging from business to fashion design and media studies. A study conducted in 2011 showed that about 60 percent of university students get admitted to private universities.  This paints a very blushing image of the private universities and also indicates that better days are ahead. Furthermore, some foreign students are also enrolled here. In 2012  1,6421 foreign students were studying in private universities when only 525 were in public universities (UGC: 2012). Enrolment pattern shows that private universities can attract the prospective foreign students.
The environment of private universities in Bangladesh is student- friendly and time saving due to semester system. Today the privatization of higher educational institutions is an international trend. In regard to educational curriculum, private universities are found to be more upto date and nearer to international standards compared to the public universities. Most of the private universities in Bangladesh are screening the academic video clips by projectors or even using a computer inside the class room which helps to permit faculty and students to participate in dynamic demonstrations, simulations, and designs that can be utilised to explore and check theories properly within very short time.  Students generally build stronger, more personal relationships with their professors and instructors, as there are special programmes designed to increase communication and dialogue between the two.
While education in public universities is highly criticized due to student politics and session jam, private universities are free from student politics and thus free from campus violence as well as session-jam, as a result students complete their courses in time. That is why in the present time many guardians prefer private students to public universities for their children. Apart from these, qualified teachers and friendly relationship between teachers and students   have turned private universities into centre of academic excellence which is hardly seen in the public universities.
The quality in these public higher education institutions is also showing a declining trend. The public universities cannot attract quality teachers any more because of the poor pay scale, having to compete with the private universities now. The academic environment has deteriorated considerably because of the negative brand of campus politics practised by a section of both students and teachers (Syed Yamin: 2014).
Recently the University Grants Commission has conducted a   survey on our five public universities, including the University of Dhaka, Khulna University, Rajshahi university and Bangladesh Agricultural University. The survey was conducted on 250 teachers. The first finding shows that depressingly low standard teaching is going on in these universities. A large number of academics cannot satisfy the needs of the students because of their poor performance. The survey says that twenty-eight percent  teachers are observed to be extremely poor in teaching.  The UGC has identified that thirteen percent are not at all concerned with research. Twenty percent teachers are doing well in this line. But the research they do hardly reach the global standard.
It is alleged that private universities charge exorbitant fees and that is why students from all families can not afford this expensive private higher education. But the cruel reality is that public universities are fully financed by government while private universities are financed by the Board of Trustees of the respective universities. University Grants Commission (UGC) as the apex body of the government for higher education is responsible for funding of public universities but still they don't have any plan to finance private universities. As private universities do not get any government assistance in terms of funding, this is one of the reasons for having expensive education in private institutions. They do not receive any financial support from the government but are heavily taxed instead.  Without high tuition fees private universities can not cannot continue providing quality education.
Since private universities are playing a vital role to provide education to our learners in a violence and session jam free environment and ensuring more students enrollment than the public universities as well as averting our student from going abroad to achieve higher education, government should finance to flourish these promising sectors to ensure quality education and thus to ensure the access of all students from all classes. Besides, there is no logic to put private universities under taxing as private university is declared as non-profit organisation.
Finally, if the government does not extend support to private universities logistically and economically which are involved in developing human resource development and making the country knowledge- based society, it will affect the growth of these institutions and thus dreams of students may be shattered.
The writer is a senior lecturer in Social Work, Centre for General Education, Northern University Bangladesh, email:[email protected]