Saga of Private Universities

Ziauddin Choudhury

In a recent news I read about proud opening of a campus building of a private university that was
attended by dignitaries including ministers. We were informed that this university is one of lucky
fourteen private universities in Bangladesh that had their own premises, not rented one. When you hear
this news, you cringe in disbelief that out of 103 private universities in Bangladesh now only fourteen
have their own buildings; the rest hold classes in rented premises. Indeed, these universities are strewn
across in all corners of the city, from north to south, from east to west. You see hoardings displaying
names of different universities on top of multistoried buildings in Dhanmondi, Banani, Gulshan, Uttara,
and other far flung parts of Dhaka city.

The exponential growth of these universities reminds one of the market mentalities that once propelled
the garment industry in Bangladesh a few decades ago. The first private university was set up in 1992.
Thereafter sixteen private universities (fourteen in Dhaka and two in Chittagong) were set up in six years
after the enactment of Private Universities Act in 1992. But since that time the number has grown
aggressively. From less than forty around 2001-2002, the number increased in 2008 to about 56 private
universities. Now the number is a staggering 103 private universities, about 80 percent of which are in
Dhaka.

The question that comes to mind automatically is not whether we need these many tertiary educational
institutes but how these institutions operate? How are they funded? Where do they get so many
university level educators? These universities are not institutions that are founded by charitable trusts
or foundations. Most of these have been actually founded by individuals or a group of individuals some
of whom may have been motivated by a desire to make higher education available to all. But definitely
not all. And these institutions cannot operate unless they are financially viable. And here is the rub.

A few years ago, I met a very successful businessman who had made his fortune in garments industry.
He explained to me that all his wealth would be meaningless if he did not spend some of it for people’s
welfare. I thought he was planning to build a hospital in his locality like a few other wealthy people in
the country. But he surprised me by saying that he was setting up a university, not in his district, but in
Dhaka. But were not there already too many universities in Dhaka, I asked. He said he was a
businessman and he could see that there was a vast unmet demand for universities. Indeed, he started
his new venture within the year, not by building a campus but by renting a multistoried building.

I cite this to underscore the mindless growth of private universities with no oversight of these plethora
of institutions, the education they provide, and the standards they maintain. Increase in the number of
universities does not necessarily lead to increase in standards or quality of education. The quality of
education depends on a number of factors principal among which are quality of the faculty, quality and
standard of curriculum, quality of student intake, and facilities these institutions provide to their
students. But how do you assure quality education when the attention of those who found these places
of higher education is on revenue rather than education itself.

The situation is not going to change soon unless there are drastic steps to address the expanding
number of high school graduates who crowd the doors of universities and colleges for tertiary
education. Last year the number of students who took HSC examination crossed the million mark (it was
about 1.2 million from ten education boards), with about 65% pass rate. In a country that can hardly
accommodate these HSC graduates in public universities and colleges, private universities are the
obvious next choice. But not all can afford the cost of education the private universities offer. But those
who do should at least be rewarded with a minimum of educational quality and standard.

The irony of higher education in Bangladesh today is that while our policy planners want to expand its
availability to all, there is hardly any attention to oversight and management of this sector. That is why
there is no uniform standard in the management and oversight of the countless private universities in
the country. University Grants Commission is ineffective in having any control over the private
universities because the entity has no enforcement mechanism of the regulatory control it is purported
to have over a private university. Although the private universities act of 1992 was replaced by a similar
act in 2010 that apparently strengthened the role of UGC but lacking resources and wherewithal the
monitoring role of UGC is nominal and feckless at best. The entity still retains the authority to endorse
or reject any new proposal for a private university, but it has little authority over canceling a registration
when a private university fails to fulfill some important conditions of license to operate such as having
own buildings, maintaining a balanced curriculum, and quality of teaching.

Private universities fulfill a big vacuum in higher education in Bangladesh. But as it now it turns out most
of these universities are market driven, and not mission driven. That is why they offer more marketable
educational courses such as information technology and business administration. And as the finances of
these institutions depend on the revenue they generate from fees, they select students more on the
basis of their ability to pay than on academic results. To reduce operating costs the institutions, scrimp
on expenditure on new buildings, have minimal facilities, and incur faculty expenses by hiring part time
and less than qualified teachers.

The private universities on their side have argued against UGC and/or Government interference in
running their institutions. They cite examples from other countries particularly the US to support their
case. Indeed, in an ideal situation this should be so. But in a country where educational institutions
thrive on a general lack of places of higher education one would expect the mission of these institutions
would be to provide an atmosphere where quality and standard rule the institutions, and not money. If
the intent is to educate and train our youth, the means to do so should be at least of the quality that can
turn out such products.

I know it is a tall order, but could not the Association of Private Universities come up with proposals that
regulate them in a fair and transparent way as an alternative to Government monitoring? Could not the
Association set up a minimum standard of buildings and facilities that a campus should have? Could
they not follow a minimum criterion for faculty recruitment as well as admission of students?

If the Association really cared for good education and not motivated by commercialism it would subject
the entities to be held accountable for what they promised for when they got their charter approved by
the Government. They will be liable to cancellation of the charter by UGC if they failed to hold up their
promise. If they cared for education, they would agree to a minimum standard for their teaching faculty
and student admission. They would also subject themselves to a regular audit by their peer institutions
on the quality of education, education facilities, and student performance. If the private universities
were set up for giving quality education, the should prove that they are actually giving that. If they
could, we may welcome more universities to fulfill the ever-growing need for higher education.