Higher Education of Bangladesh: East Asian Prospective in International Symposium on Exchange among Universities with Quality Assurance in East Asian Region
Prof. Dr. A K Azad Chowdhury
Chairman (State Minister), University Grants Commission of Bangladesh e‐mail: [email protected]
Web: www.ugc.gov.bd
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Higher Education of Bangladesh: East Asian Prospective
• Current Profile of Higher Education in Bangladesh
• Global Higher Education Reform
• Identify the issues and possible measures for promoting exchange among universities with quality assurance
• Promotion of mutual understanding of Quality Assurance System in HEIs of East Asian Countries
• Promoting credit‐transfer, cooperation and joint programs, building network
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Educational Systems in Bangladesh( The three main educational systems in Bangladesh, ordered by decreasing student numbers)
• General Education System
• Madrasah Education System
• Technical ‐ Vocational Education System
General professional education system
• Primary Level (years 1 to 5)
• Secondary Level (years 6 to 10)
• Higher Secondary Level (years 11 and 12)
• Tertiary Level ( Universities & Higher education institutions)
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No. of public and Private Universities in different years
Ratio of Public and Private Universities and different types of public universities & their professional areas
54
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Private UniversitiesPublic Universities
Public Universities and various professional discipline
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84111
51 1 1
General UniScience & Tech UniAgricultural UniMedical UniNational UniOpen UniEngineering & TechUniProfessional UniBatanary UniTextile Uni
Graphical presentation of Tertiary Level students number in public and private universities between year 2001 & 2011
0 500000 1000000 1500000 2000000
2001
2011
92562
1728357
No. of Students in Public Universities
No. of Students in Public Universities
27245
211667
0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000
2001
2011
No. of Students in Private Universities
No. of Students in PrivateUniversities
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Higher Education in Bangladesh :Prospects and Problems
• Research in Universities• Governance of the Universities • Role of University Grants Commission (UGC)• UGC & Higher Education Quality Enhancement Program
• Education budget in UGC• Challenges of Higher Education and Global Crisis• Core focus of the higher education strategy• Achievements & higher education in Bangladesh• Conclusion
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Research in the Universities• Premier universities of Bangladesh are doing well in research in
science, technology and innovations.
• However, the HEIs in general show a less than satisfactory trackrecord in R & D work.
• There is a strong realization in academia, educational policy planners, and professional groups that the HEIs should perform better in research and development to excel in the knowledge society of today.
• Universities usually carry out research in the areas teachers are trained up/interested in with little relevance to the society.
• A closer‐relationship must be established between industry and the university so that the research out put may be applied to the needs of the industries and the communities.
• For linking up research to the social needs, the government should play a supportive role by providing generous funds to the universities and the research centers.
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Role of UGC in Higher Education • The University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh is the
statutory body to supervise, promote and coordinate university education in the country.
• Maintenance of standard and assurance of the quality of HE in all the public and private universities is the one primary responsibilities of the UGC.
• The UGC assesses the needs of the public universities in terms of funding, faculty resources and physical development and advise Government to fulfill the needs and it also advises thegovt. on various issues related to higher education in Bangladesh.
• The University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh was established under the President’s Order (P.O.) No. 10 of 1973 which was deemed to have come into force with effect from 16 December 1972. Though it was an unique enactment to ensure the autonomy of the universities it has out lived its necessity,purview and affectivity in present day world.
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University governance and qualityeducation : Bangladesh Context
• Some of the public universities of Bangladesh impart high quality education & have a good system of governance.
• Many others often have no clear mission, vision, objectives ,governance, administration, or leadership.
Private universities suffer from some serious governance concerns:
Leadership (i.e., vice‐chancellor, Board of Governors etc.) is often a matter of the financiers’/sponsors’ choice. Many of these universities have no concern for scholarship. VCs are sometimes academics with no experience of tertiary level teaching, accountability and transparency are not as expected. Some of course are fairly good by all counts.
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University Governance and Quality Education
• More prominent criteria of quality assurance, such as input/admission/ recruitment criteria, output criteria; curriculum, workforce, budgetary and efficiency criteria,
• Other areas in higher education directly related to quality are governance, transparency, ethics and humanities and quality sustainability.
• It is difficult, if not impossible, to calculate achievements in these fields from the “value added” output each area may yield if the institution has the effort and desire to achieve quality. However these areas of critical assessment are usually neglected in Bangladesh.
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Education Budget in Asia few countries
• Education in South Asia is largely State‐funded (95 per cent in Sri Lanka and 85 per cent in India).
• The percentage of GNP allocated to education is less than 3 per cent in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh
• Over 3 percent in India and Sri Lanka.• The Maldives is an exception, with 8.4 per cent of its GNP spent on education (SURF‐UNDP, 2010).
• Most of the education budget is spent on teachers' salaries, leaving little to improve the infrastructure or raise the standards of teaching and learning.
Public expenditures as % of GDPin Asia for Tertiary level Educatio
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Bangladesh National Budget
0.8
7.4 12.411
6.97.55.15.4
7.7
7.3
14.6
6.8 5.2
0.91 Industrial & Economic
ServiceMis Expenduture
Education & IT
Interest
Transport
Local Govt.
Energy & Power
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Education sub‐sector wise development budget allocation %
15
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Four alternative growth scenarios(source:www.iiasa.ac.at )
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Global Tertiary level education attainment rate between 1960 and 2010
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Global tertiary education
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South Korea and Brazil
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2020
Explaining the difference between poverty and wealth
© K4D program
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Rea
l GD
P pe
r cap
ita (2
000
US$
)
South Korea
BrazilDifference in output due to growth in labor and capital in Korea
Difference in output due to TFP growth or knowledge accumulation in Korea
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The Conceptual Links from Higher Education to Economic Growth (source :www.siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION)
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Challenges of Higher Education and Global Crisis
• Globalization & internationalization, cross border trades of goods and services, student mobility, increased competition
• Development of knowledge‐based economy, knowledge capital replacing physical capital as main source of wealth, survival of the fittest
• Rapid development & increasing use of ICT, bridging geographical and quality divide
• Rapid change in labor market, higher education becoming more important and in greater demand
• Live‐long learning & education, learning new skills and knowledge, learning to improve the quality of live
• Global crisisGlobal financial/economic crunch, Global climate changes, Food crisis, Energy crisis,
Global injustice, terrorism, wars & instability
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Global higher education reforms • The US government committed to invest USD 134 billion in
higher education over the next 10 years. • The UK public universities introduced innovations in
financing: performance‐based funding, deferential fees, fee rise etc.
• The concept of cost‐sharing and cost recovery introduced in higher education in China.
• In 2003 Australian HE reform packages : teaching, workplace productivity, governance, student financing, research, cross‐sectoral collab., quality and differential fees , student loan.
• HEC, Pakistan initiated wide‐ranging systemic reforms in 2002. Pakistan’s public funding for higher education was increased ten folds, from Rs.3.8 billion in 2002 to Rs.33.7 billion in 2007.
• India has also given much stress on higher education with 40 more new public universities and vast number tertiary level institutions.
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Factors affecting Quality Education
• Inadequate administrative support and leadership
• Insufficient technology support in the class• Financial constrain of the universities• Faculty research capabilities• Faculty feedback• Insufficient instruction time• Shortage of well‐designed curriculum• Politicization of learning environment
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Factors affecting Quality Education(Contd)
• Lack of university and community partnership
• Lack of adequate school facilities
• Teaching faculty behavior
• Lack of effective learning materials
• Lack of competent faculty
• Lack of ongoing professional development
• Reliable examination system
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Goal and objective of QA
• Internal quality assurance policy of universities is one of the most
important factors that influence quality of education and performance.
• Sources of revenue and access to resources play a dominant role in
ensuring quality of education and performance.
• Faculty recruitment policy of the university influences on quality education.
• Part timer trend of the university has a negative impact on quality teaching.
The research sub questions are designed to test the hypothesis.
• What are the internal quality assurance policies among these universities?
• What is their source of revenue?
• How are they dealing with tuition and budgetary issues?
• What is their policy for faculty development, recruitment and promotion?
• What challenges do the private universities face to ensure quality of
teaching?
• Does the performance of part‐time faculty teaching affect quality?
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UGC & Higher Education Quality Enhancement Program
• To meet the globalization challenges raising higher education quality to the world standard is essential. Bangladesh Govt. has taken initiatives to develop the quality of tertiary education.
• Govt. plans to prepare university graduates in such way that they can successfully compete in the context of international knowledge society.
• The Ministry of Education, with the assistance of the World Bank, has undertaken a Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP). The project aims at improving the quality of teaching‐learning and research capabilities of the tertiary education
• The University Grants Commission of Bangladesh is the implementing agency of the project. A HEQEP Unit has been established in UGC for implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation of the activities.
• The progress of the HEQEP (AIF Project) implementation is spectacular
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BdREN & UGC(A high performance communication network)
Objective: A high performance Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) network providing connectivity among education and research institutions in both public and private sectorsMajor Activities: o Connect all universities of the country through a dedicated nation‐wide optical fiber network
o Provide high speed internet connection to all universities up to 200 MBPS (at present 2‐50 MBPS)
o Connect BdREN with TEIN3 networko Develop campus ICT network to ensure maximum benefit from REN
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Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BDRen) Diagram
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GLOBAL AND REGIONAL NETWORKS OF QA GLOBAL AND REGIONAL NETWORKS OF QA AGENCIESAGENCIES
RIACESAfriQAn
APQN
ENQA
NOQACEENet
ANQAHECANQATE
ASPA
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Quality Assurance
• An ongoing, continuous process of evaluating the quality of a higher education systems, institution, or program
• A regulatory system focusing on accountability and improvement, providing information and judgments through an agreed upon and consistent process and well‐established criteria.
• Direct monitoring by the state of the quality of Institutions and programmes;
• Providing incentives to professional organizations for their self‐regulations;
• Relaying on market mechanism for improvements to academic quality.
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Elements of Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance
Monitoring
Student Evaluation
Self Assessment Peer review
Quality Control
Accountability
Improvement
Internal External
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GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR QUALITY EVALUATION
Government
Social Equity Social Responsibility
Quality AssuranceAcademic System
Efficiency
Excellence
Productivity
Accountability
Markets
Market productivity
Efficiency
UniversitiesAcademic
Standards
Research
Teaching
(Innovation,
creativity, learning)
Source: Higher Education in Asia/Pacific ‐ Terence W. Bigalke and Deane E. Neubauer, 2009.
Quality assurance as a broker of signals and interests
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