APUB delegation pays courtesy call on President

A delegation of the Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) paid a courtesy call on President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at Bangabhaban on September 10.

During the meeting, the President said the fragile education system left behind must be restructured afresh. He stressed the need to bring different streams of education under a coordinated and integrated national education system.

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The President also stressed that the education system must be comprehensively redesigned by taking into consideration the country’s literature, heritage, culture, employment opportunities, and national needs. He praised the important contributions of private universities to the expansion of higher education, research, innovation and national development. He noted that several private universities have maintained their positions in global university rankings. In his capacity as Chancellor of the universities, the President assured the delegation of his overall support for the development and advancement of private universities.

During the meeting, the APUB delegation, led by the Chairman, Dr Md Sabur Khan, apprised the President of the overall development of higher education in the country, the current state of private universities, the role of private universities in developing skilled human resources, and their contribution to the country’s economic advancement.

The delegation sought support for introducing competency- and outcome-based assessment systems and for ensuring that approval of new universities and academic programmes is based on national needs, subject-wise demand, investment capacity and quality standards.

APUB leadership also called for providing eligible universities with full opportunities to offer PhD programmes, conduct research, secure patents, and pursue commercialisation of research outcomes. They emphasised the importance of industry-linked curricula, internships, apprenticeships, foreign-language education, artificial intelligence (AI), and professional skills development to make every graduate employable. They further called for transforming the University Grants Commission (UGC) into a more supportive and development-oriented regulatory body and urged the formulation of an integrated national education system.

The APUB delegation was led by APUB Chairman Dr Md Sabur Khan. Among others, APUB Vice Chairmen Benajir Ahmed and K B M Moin Uddin Chisty, Treasurer Qayum Reza Chowdhury, Executive Committee members Abdul Quasem Haider, Kazi Zahidul Hasan, and Nowshad Shamsul Arefin, and Belal Ahmed, Director, APUB Secretariat, were present. Major General A S M Bahauddin, Military Secretary to the President, and Sarwar Alam, Press Secretary to the President, were also present during the meeting.