Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the government colleges should be brought under the aegis of public universities as affiliated institutes.

This would help reduce the pressure of coping with huge student populations for the public universities, she suggested.

The Prime Minister expressed this view when a four-member delegation of the University Grants Commission (UGC), led by its newly-appointed chairman Professor Abdul Mannan, met her at the PMO on Wednesday morning.
PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

Citing that some 35,000 students now studying at Dhaka University exerted great pressure on its campus, the PM voiced her suggestion as a way to reduce such pressure on public universities.
She also said that private colleges should be brought under the National University to preclude the need for a large campus.

Sheikh Hasina during the meeting assured the UGC delegation that her government is working to expand education, especially science and technology-based education. She also asked the UGC to continuously monitor the performance of the teachers of the universities.

The delegation apprised the Prime Minister of the activities of the UGC.

The members of the team said that the number of universities in the country were only six when the UGC was established in 1973 by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. But with the passage of time, the number of public and private universities has reached 121, they noted.

They informed the Prime Minister that a project is underway with $ 240 million loan assistance from the World Bank for enhancement of quality higher education in Bangladesh.

The UGC delegation also said that the total number of students studying in the countrywide universities is around 30 lakh, of which about 63 per cent are studying in the private universities.

PMO secretary Suraiya Begum was present during the discussions.