Higher education
18 Nov 2010
On this page
- Short description of the higher education system
- Types of degrees
- Quality assurance and accreditation
- Recent reforms
Short description of the higher education system
Of the 21 public-sector universities, 19 provide regular classroom instruction, facilities and services. Bangladesh Open University (BOU) conducts non-campus distance education programmes, especially in the field of teacher education, and offers Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Master of Education (MEd) degrees. BOU provides eighteen formal courses and nineteen non-formal courses.
Bangladesh National University mainly functions as an affiliating university for degree and post-graduate degree level education at different colleges and institutions in various fields of study. In the case of fine arts, however, this university also offers a pre-degree BFA course (which is equivalent to HSC). It conducts final examinations and awards degrees, diplomas and certificates to successful candidates.
The degrees awarded are BA, BSS, BSc, BCom (Pass & Honours), BFA (Pass), MA, MSc, MSS, MCom and MFA. Moreover, this university also offers LLB and other degrees. Bangladesh National University offers part-time training to university teachers.
There is only one medical university – Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. Like other public universities, it offers courses under a different system, where an FCPS degree is offered in the discipline of medical science; diploma courses are offered in twelve disciplines. MD degrees are offered in fifteen subjects and MS courses are offered in eight subjects.
(Source: BANBEIS)
Types of degrees
In general education, higher secondary is followed by college and/or university-level education via Pass/Honours graduate courses (mostly four years, but three-year bachelor programmes are also available depending on the field of study and the awarding institution).
The master’s degree lasts one year for holders of Honours bachelor’s degrees and two years for holders of Pass bachelor’s degrees. Higher technical education also starts after the higher secondary level. Engineering, agriculture, business, medical and information & communication technology are the major technical and technological disciplines. Except for medicine, each of these programmes requires a five-year course of study to obtain an initial degree.
(Source: Ministry of Education)
Quality assurance and accreditation
In Bangladesh, higher education institutions and the programmes they offer are largely operated without any sustained and periodic critical review as is needed for quality assurance and improvement. No accreditation body exists that could ensure quality assurance and determine the strengths and deficiencies of programmes. The quality assurance systems that do exist tend to be subjective.
In the absence of a scientific mechanism to assess quality in a whole range of interrelated areas such as mission, vision, academic programmes, curriculum, teaching, research, teaching aids, facilities, leadership etc., attempts to measure quality are bound to be unsatisfactory and at best tentative. It is also difficult to set standards for accreditation, since the whole question of quality culture seems to be a matter of an institution’s particular choice.
(Source: Article Professor Salahuddin M. Aminuzzaman)
Recent reforms
The government is strongly committed to alleviating existing problems in respect of management and quality through reforms across the education system. In order to address issues at the secondary and higher levels, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has developed a medium-term framework for the secondary education sub-sector that focuses on quality improvements, policy measures and specific actions needed to reform the system.
The development of this medium-term framework has benefited from an extensive range of consultations and workshops with stakeholders at the central, district and upazila (formerly known as subdivision) levels. The main objective of the reforms being proposed is to address systemic governance issues centred on raising the quality and cost-effectiveness of service delivery and improving equity of access to secondary education.
The MoE is aiming to move towards a devolved system of governance within the current administrative structure. To ensure appropriate financial controls, the MoE is implementing a Financial Management Reform Programme (FMRP). This is intended to increase accountability and transparency in the use of resources.
(Source: Ministry of Education)
