Educational institutions and study programmes
What types of educational institutions and study programmes are there in Bangladesh? And how do we check if the quality is sufficient?
Bangladeshi educational institutions and study programmes
Below, we explain what types of educational institutions and study programmes there are in Bangladesh. We also explain how we check whether these are recognised. We check the recognition to make sure that the quality is sufficient. We give the necessary information per educational sector.
Secondary education | educational institutions
Students are educated at a school, but take their exams from a board. For this reason, you only have to check the recognition of that board, not of the school.
Checking the recognition of boards
On the website of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Education, you can find an overview of all recognised boards.
Secondary education | diplomas
In secondary education, you should especially pay attention to whether a student has a recognised diploma. Among other things, this means that the diploma should be awarded by a board. We describe the secondary education diplomas and boards that award them on our webpage about Bangladeshi primary and secondary education.
Secondary vocational education | educational institutions
The Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) is responsible for the exams and checks the educational institutions.
Higher education | educational institutions
There are 2 types of higher education institutions in Bangladesh:
- universities; and
- colleges.
Universities
Universities offer both HBO and WO study programmes. Sometimes, students are educated at a college that is affiliated to a university. In that case, the university awards the official diploma, not the college. Universities can be public, private or international.
Checking the recognition of universities
Universities must be recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC). On the UGC website you can find overviews of recognised universities:
Colleges
Colleges usually offer only HBO study programmes. However, some colleges also offer WO study programmes, such as medicine. Some colleges are specialised in a certain field of study, for example engineering, law or medicine.
Colleges are always affiliated to a university. In most cases, they are affiliated to the National University. Universities award the official degrees. Colleges are not allowed to do that themselves.
Checking to which university a college is affiliated
Colleges are always affiliated to a university. You can check to which university a college is affiliated as follows:
- Go to the website of the college and search for information about affiliation.
- Does the website say that the college is affiliated to the National University (NU)?
- In that case, check if the college is mentioned in the NU database.
- Does the website say that the college is affiliated to another university?
- In that case, go to the website of that university and search for information that this is indeed the case.
- If so, the next step is to check if the university itself is recognised. See ‘Checking the recognition of universities’ above.
- The university awards the official diplomas and lists of grades, not the college.