Science and technology gaps in higher education
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Prof. Lutfor Rahman
There are 54 private universities in Bangladesh and most of them have science-technology and engineering faculties to teach modern technological subjects like Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Electric & Electronics Engineering (EEE), Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (ETE), Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and biotechnology. Course approval, faculty recruitment, laboratories-inspection and other related work are done by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Unless the UGC has people, qualified in science, how can it do it? And usually, neither the chairman, nor the members of the UGC know the modern science and technology subjects. And more unfortunately almost 90 per cent of the vice chancellors of the private universities also lack scientific and technological education.
It creates a big gap between the students and teachers, on the one side, and the vice chancellors, on the other. It does not make the guardians confident about the quality education in modern sciences and technology.
The labs in most of the private universities are of poor quality. The tools, particularly ICT related tools, in the labs are no better than game tools, used by school students in developed countries. Because of lack of people qualified in science and technology in the UGC, the universities face unwanted situations almost everyday. They are afraid of discussing issues related to science and technology. The UGC has nobody to listen to the problems of the students, teachers or guardians. The UGC simply does not know the solutions to the problems.
Inspection of the private universities by a high power committee in 2004 resulted in the cancellation of affiliation of eight private universities. Shocking as it would sound, of the eight, four universities were located far from the capital city, two were run by women, and the vice chancellors or chairmen of the four universities were scientists or engineers. The BGC Trust University, located in rural Chittagong, was founded by a famous engineer, who was also the chairman. The founder of the Comilla University is an eminent academic scientist and a former chairman of the UGC. The Amban University was founded by a highly qualified senior engineer, who was also the vice chancellor. Pundra University of Science and Technology (PUST), located in a village of Bogra had a globally accepted academic scientist as the vice chancellor.
It was shocking to know that none of the members of the inspection team came from science and technology background. How could the team grasp what a university, specilised in science and technology. is expected to do. The idea of an ICT university, named AAIT University, in a remote area came from Ms. Judy Johnson, the then Secretary of the Commonwealth Science Council (CSC) of Commonwealth Secretariat, London. She visited Bangladesh in 1997 and 2000 to empower women scientists, technologists and researchers. She enabled 112 women scientists, technologists and researchers of Bangladesh to acquire ICT knowledge from 1996 to 2004 under auspices of Commonwealth Science Council (CSC).
In a technology university what a scientist can do a non-scientist can never do. This is what the inspection team failed to understand in the case of PUST in Bogra. As a result, not only the students, the guardians and the teachers, but also the VC suffered the most unexpected. Such lack of awareness and knowledge gaps were hardly expected from the UGC.
The UGC chairman should be qualified in science and technology with experience in teaching research or industry. He must have vast knowledge in modern science or technology so that he can appreciate global competition for acquiring knowledge science and technology. He should be able to represent Bangladesh in international conferences in science and technology. He should know how to remove the gap between Bangladesh and the developed countries in science and technology. The participation by qualified scientist's international conferences would create better image of Bangladesh in international scientific organisations.
The universities teaching science and technology must have scientifically qualified vice chancellors. (ScienceConnect Country Ambassador for Bangladesh and founder vice chancellor of a science and technology university, the writer may be contacted at email: lutfor@agni.com)
There are 54 private universities in Bangladesh and most of them have science-technology and engineering faculties to teach modern technological subjects like Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Electric & Electronics Engineering (EEE), Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (ETE), Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and biotechnology. Course approval, faculty recruitment, laboratories-inspection and other related work are done by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Unless the UGC has people, qualified in science, how can it do it? And usually, neither the chairman, nor the members of the UGC know the modern science and technology subjects. And more unfortunately almost 90 per cent of the vice chancellors of the private universities also lack scientific and technological education.
It creates a big gap between the students and teachers, on the one side, and the vice chancellors, on the other. It does not make the guardians confident about the quality education in modern sciences and technology.
The labs in most of the private universities are of poor quality. The tools, particularly ICT related tools, in the labs are no better than game tools, used by school students in developed countries. Because of lack of people qualified in science and technology in the UGC, the universities face unwanted situations almost everyday. They are afraid of discussing issues related to science and technology. The UGC has nobody to listen to the problems of the students, teachers or guardians. The UGC simply does not know the solutions to the problems.
Inspection of the private universities by a high power committee in 2004 resulted in the cancellation of affiliation of eight private universities. Shocking as it would sound, of the eight, four universities were located far from the capital city, two were run by women, and the vice chancellors or chairmen of the four universities were scientists or engineers. The BGC Trust University, located in rural Chittagong, was founded by a famous engineer, who was also the chairman. The founder of the Comilla University is an eminent academic scientist and a former chairman of the UGC. The Amban University was founded by a highly qualified senior engineer, who was also the vice chancellor. Pundra University of Science and Technology (PUST), located in a village of Bogra had a globally accepted academic scientist as the vice chancellor.
It was shocking to know that none of the members of the inspection team came from science and technology background. How could the team grasp what a university, specilised in science and technology. is expected to do. The idea of an ICT university, named AAIT University, in a remote area came from Ms. Judy Johnson, the then Secretary of the Commonwealth Science Council (CSC) of Commonwealth Secretariat, London. She visited Bangladesh in 1997 and 2000 to empower women scientists, technologists and researchers. She enabled 112 women scientists, technologists and researchers of Bangladesh to acquire ICT knowledge from 1996 to 2004 under auspices of Commonwealth Science Council (CSC).
In a technology university what a scientist can do a non-scientist can never do. This is what the inspection team failed to understand in the case of PUST in Bogra. As a result, not only the students, the guardians and the teachers, but also the VC suffered the most unexpected. Such lack of awareness and knowledge gaps were hardly expected from the UGC.
The UGC chairman should be qualified in science and technology with experience in teaching research or industry. He must have vast knowledge in modern science or technology so that he can appreciate global competition for acquiring knowledge science and technology. He should be able to represent Bangladesh in international conferences in science and technology. He should know how to remove the gap between Bangladesh and the developed countries in science and technology. The participation by qualified scientist's international conferences would create better image of Bangladesh in international scientific organisations.
The universities teaching science and technology must have scientifically qualified vice chancellors. (ScienceConnect Country Ambassador for Bangladesh and founder vice chancellor of a science and technology university, the writer may be contacted at email: lutfor@agni.com)