WB agrees to fund country's higher education project
Monday, 8 October 2007
A Z M Anas
Faced with falling quality in universities, the caretaker government has decided to overhaul the country's higher education system-from curriculum modernisation to research activities.
Supporting the interim administration's initiative, the World Bank has agreed to finance the proposed higher education project, now at the formulation stage.
"The World Bank has committed to funding the higher education project. If approved, it will make a difference to the university education, plagued with inefficiency and lack of innovation," a senior education ministry official said.
"The main component of the project is the establishment of an Innovation Fund. All public and private universities will be eligible for the funds which will have multifarious uses," the official added.
Although the loan amount is not yet determined, officials say, the project funds will constitute "an additional source of resources" for higher education institutions, providing incentives to launch initiatives aimed at improving their performance.
The main objectives of the fund are to introduce a financing mechanism, enhance quality, promote innovation, strengthen capacity and increase autonomy.
The fund, to be administered by University Grants Commission (UGC), will also help ensure accountability of academic departments, break down frontiers between departments, and foster greater inter-departmental and inter-university cooperation, according to a bank document.
The Innovation Fund will be "flexible" instruments that allow the promotion of quality of teaching, learning and research in higher education institutions, using a competitive mechanism to allocate resources, an education ministry official.
Excluding the affiliated colleges of National University, all public and private universities will be part of the scheme, and only their departments will be eligible to compete for the funds.
The possible areas of fund use include small infrastructure renovation, teaching materials, on-line facilities, teachers' development and modernisation of curriculum.
Others fields of fund utilisation identified by the bank mission are research collaboration with foreign universities, linkage with industries, research projects, development of career centres, scholarships, and visiting foreign faculties.
According to a preliminary estimate, the grant amount for each university proposal may range between US$3000 and $500,000 a year.
Bank officials say this instrument is in use in about 30 countries across the world, with generally positive results.
Officials indicated that the potential programmes would be designed in a way so that quality, relevance and governance of higher education institutions can be overhauled.
A World Bank preparatory mission worked between September 22 and 26 in the city and had extensive discussions with officials of education ministry, UGC and university teachers.
The sources said the bank's preparatory mission provided stakeholders with separate reports on the experiences of similar funds in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Ghana and Indonesia.
The sources said the government has already constituted a strategic plan implementation committee to oversee the fund's management and map out resource allocation mechanism.
However, bank officials agreed that complete transparency, objectivity, impartiality and clarity of rules and criteria are "absolute prerequisite for innovation funds to be successful."
"A clear regulatory environment is also critical for the scheme to bring about the expected outcomes," says an aide memoire, prepared by the bank's team.
A senior education ministry official noted the global development lender will send another preparatory mission in early November in continuation of its exploratory purpose.
Officials concerned say the proposed higher education project is being undertaken in the light of the recommendations of the government's Strategic Plan for Higher Education.
Other component is capacity building plan under which different interventions will be made to sharpen the knowledge of officials of universities and the UGC.
Today, Bangladesh has 29 public universities, 56 private universities, 31 specialised colleges and two special universities.
There are specialised universities in both categories offering courses principally in technological studies, medical studies, business studies and Islamic studies. There are two private universities dedicated solely to female students.
Officials say both sides will negotiate the proposed loan sometime in July 2008 and the credit proposal is likely to be placed before the bank's board in August next year.
Faced with falling quality in universities, the caretaker government has decided to overhaul the country's higher education system-from curriculum modernisation to research activities.
Supporting the interim administration's initiative, the World Bank has agreed to finance the proposed higher education project, now at the formulation stage.
"The World Bank has committed to funding the higher education project. If approved, it will make a difference to the university education, plagued with inefficiency and lack of innovation," a senior education ministry official said.
"The main component of the project is the establishment of an Innovation Fund. All public and private universities will be eligible for the funds which will have multifarious uses," the official added.
Although the loan amount is not yet determined, officials say, the project funds will constitute "an additional source of resources" for higher education institutions, providing incentives to launch initiatives aimed at improving their performance.
The main objectives of the fund are to introduce a financing mechanism, enhance quality, promote innovation, strengthen capacity and increase autonomy.
The fund, to be administered by University Grants Commission (UGC), will also help ensure accountability of academic departments, break down frontiers between departments, and foster greater inter-departmental and inter-university cooperation, according to a bank document.
The Innovation Fund will be "flexible" instruments that allow the promotion of quality of teaching, learning and research in higher education institutions, using a competitive mechanism to allocate resources, an education ministry official.
Excluding the affiliated colleges of National University, all public and private universities will be part of the scheme, and only their departments will be eligible to compete for the funds.
The possible areas of fund use include small infrastructure renovation, teaching materials, on-line facilities, teachers' development and modernisation of curriculum.
Others fields of fund utilisation identified by the bank mission are research collaboration with foreign universities, linkage with industries, research projects, development of career centres, scholarships, and visiting foreign faculties.
According to a preliminary estimate, the grant amount for each university proposal may range between US$3000 and $500,000 a year.
Bank officials say this instrument is in use in about 30 countries across the world, with generally positive results.
Officials indicated that the potential programmes would be designed in a way so that quality, relevance and governance of higher education institutions can be overhauled.
A World Bank preparatory mission worked between September 22 and 26 in the city and had extensive discussions with officials of education ministry, UGC and university teachers.
The sources said the bank's preparatory mission provided stakeholders with separate reports on the experiences of similar funds in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Ghana and Indonesia.
The sources said the government has already constituted a strategic plan implementation committee to oversee the fund's management and map out resource allocation mechanism.
However, bank officials agreed that complete transparency, objectivity, impartiality and clarity of rules and criteria are "absolute prerequisite for innovation funds to be successful."
"A clear regulatory environment is also critical for the scheme to bring about the expected outcomes," says an aide memoire, prepared by the bank's team.
A senior education ministry official noted the global development lender will send another preparatory mission in early November in continuation of its exploratory purpose.
Officials concerned say the proposed higher education project is being undertaken in the light of the recommendations of the government's Strategic Plan for Higher Education.
Other component is capacity building plan under which different interventions will be made to sharpen the knowledge of officials of universities and the UGC.
Today, Bangladesh has 29 public universities, 56 private universities, 31 specialised colleges and two special universities.
There are specialised universities in both categories offering courses principally in technological studies, medical studies, business studies and Islamic studies. There are two private universities dedicated solely to female students.
Officials say both sides will negotiate the proposed loan sometime in July 2008 and the credit proposal is likely to be placed before the bank's board in August next year.