Regulations for private universities

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Some of the private universities of the country hardly possess the characteristics of real campuses. Housed in small rented buildings, these appear more like coaching centres than as real universities.
Some of these private organisations claim to be the franchises of educational institutions abroad. But some of the institutions here that identify as the franchises of better known foreign institutions are probably violating the rules of franchise by not maintaining standards here similar to the parent organisations.
It was shockingly learnt that some private medical colleges in Dhaka run anatomy courses without having facilities for the practical dissection of human bodies. The same kind of lapses are noted in the teaching of other disciplines and this is because the private institutions in most cases lack the means to provide fullsome education.
Part of the reason for this state of affairs relates to the crass profiteering motives and unscrupulousness of the operators of such institutions. Most of the private universities also teach mainly Business Studies or Computers whereas any university worth the name should have the facility for students to study any of a variety of subjects in the physical sciences, humanities or the social sciences.
The government should encourage the growth of private centres of higher education. But it must be much more serious about its regulatory functions to ensure that the private institutions can be set up in the first place only after meeting appropriate standards and that subsequently these have to be run efficiently.
Shahidul Alam
Baridhara,
Dhaka