Quality Under Scrutiny at National University’s 321 Professional Colleges and Institutes in Bangladesh

Serious questions have emerged over the quality of education at 321 professional colleges and institutes affiliated with Bangladesh’s National University, with complaints that many lack qualified teachers, adequate students and modern laboratory facilities despite charging high course fees. National University authorities say they have begun monitoring the institutions and will take action against those operating as businesses in the name of education.

A visit on 23 June to the British Bangla Institute of Management and Technology in Panditpara, Mymensingh city, found no visible academic activities at the multi-storey building where its signboard says four-year courses are offered in three subjects. No staff member or institutional activity was seen at the site.

According to National University, the institute is one of 321 affiliated professional colleges and institutes nationwide. These institutions offer courses of varying duration in 35 subjects and, on paper, enrol around 60,000 students.

Educationists say many of the affiliated professional institutes have become little more than certificate-granting centres. They say insufficient attention to quality control, teacher recruitment, research and practical instruction is preventing students from acquiring the expected skills. Many institutions also lack enough classrooms and laboratory facilities, leaving graduates struggling in the job market and adding to the number of educated unemployed.

National University authorities said much of the information they have received about the institutions is disappointing. They said action would be taken, in line with a syndicate decision, against those “doing business” in the name of education.

National University was established in Gazipur on 21 October 1992. It now has around 3.2 million students enrolled in 2,283 affiliated colleges. Of these, 321 are professional colleges and institutes offering professional courses in 35 subjects to around 60,000 students.

National University sources said the professional colleges and institutes include 74 law colleges, 92 BEd colleges, and 62 Computer Science and BBA institutes. There are also 25 BPEd colleges, 30 Library Science colleges, eight BSEd colleges for special children’s education, seven art colleges, two music colleges, one photography college, the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) as a sports college, and one Home Economics college in Rajshahi. Garments manufacturing courses are offered at 14 colleges. Training in journalism and mass media is provided by the Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB), alongside the Marine Fisheries Institute, Police Staff College and Fire Research and Training Institute.

The signboard at the British Bangla Institute of Management and Technology says it offers courses in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), and Library and Information Science (Diploma). However, when visited at noon on 23 June, no students, teachers or academic activity were found anywhere in the building.

Ashikur Rahman, director of Uddipan Coaching Centre, which operates in the same building, said the director of the British Bangla Institute visits occasionally. Ashikur Rahman said he did not know how the institute’s activities were run.

On the same day, a visit to the National University-affiliated State Institute of Business Administration and Computer Science (SIBACS), located near the building, found only three students in class and one computer. One of the students had brought her own laptop.

Nasrin Akter, a seventh-semester CSE student at SIBACS, told Ajker Patrika that student numbers are low and academic activity is also limited. She said she enrolled because she did not have an opportunity to study CSE elsewhere and has remained because of the teachers’ sincerity.

SIBACS lecturer Adnan Al Nawshad said the institute is trying to survive somehow. Adnan Al Nawshad said students do not regularly pay salaries and fees. He said 23 students were admitted in the last session, but four or five later left.

Barishal Information Technology College in Barishal offers four-year BBA and CSE courses. The institution, established in 2012 to produce professionals, currently has around 150 students and eight teachers.

People connected with the institution said classroom attendance is not satisfactory and many students are irregular. Students, meanwhile, complain that course fees are too high.

Those familiar with the sector said a similar picture exists, to varying degrees, across most professional colleges and institutes affiliated with National University. The condition of many institutions outside Dhaka is described as fragile. Problems are especially acute at many specialised institutes focused on Computer Science and BBA, where shortages of both teachers and students, the absence of modern labs and irregular teaching are prominent. Institutions in the capital are comparatively better, they said.

National University authorities said several steps are being taken to ensure skills-based education at affiliated professional colleges and institutes. Monitoring of institutional activities has already begun, while measures including syllabus modernisation and bringing course fees under a fixed structure are also being implemented.

National University Vice-Chancellor Professor A S M Amanullah told Ajker Patrika on 23 June, “There has been no effective review of the professional institutes under National University since they were established. We have already held several meetings with representatives of the institutions. Much of the information we have received is disappointing.”

Professor A S M Amanullah said major reform measures would begin at these institutions within the next two to three months. He said action would be taken, in accordance with the National University syndicate’s decision, against those “doing business” in the name of education.

National University sources said that of the 74 affiliated law colleges nationwide, 35 are in Dhaka division. There are four in Barishal, six in Rangpur, six in Rajshahi, eight in Khulna, 12 in Chattogram and three in Sylhet.

Of the 92 BEd colleges, 36 are in Dhaka division, 18 in Khulna, 13 in Chattogram, seven each in Barishal and Rangpur, eight in Rajshahi and three in Sylhet.

Of the 62 affiliated Computer Science and BBA institutes, 32 are in Dhaka, six in Mymensingh, six in Rajshahi, seven in Khulna, six in Chattogram, two each in Barishal and Rangpur, and one in Sylhet. Of the 14 colleges offering garments manufacturing courses, 10 are in Dhaka, and one each is in Gazipur, Narayanganj, Cumilla and Chattogram.

Monjur Ahmed, emeritus professor at private BRAC University and an educationist, said most institutes in Bangladesh exist in name only. Monjur Ahmed said the expected standards of research and teaching are not being maintained and that the government should pay attention to the issue.

Tahmina Akhtar, former professor at the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka, said professional institutes are established with the goal of improving skills. Tahmina Akhtar said if adequate facilities are not available, such education will be of no use.

[The report was prepared with support from Ajker Patrika staff correspondents in Barishal and Khulna and from the Mymensingh correspondent.]