New law in the making to discipline private universities

Dhaka, Feb 5 (bdprem.com) – The government will announce a new law in March to tighten control over private universities, University Grants Commission chairman Nazrul Islam said Tuesday. Your Ad Here The new law will replace the Private University Act 1992. Professor Islam told bdnews24.com that formulation of the law which would come in the form of an ordinance reached final stage. He said the law would cut powers of owners of the universities and vice-chancellors would be made chief executives. The UGC chief said the new ordinance would remove irregularities in private universities. There are 51 private universities in the country, with the majority of them facing allegations of providing substandard education. It is alleged that money is their main concern, not education. "The new law will stop business in the name of education," Professor Islam said. In 2005, the then UGC chairman Prof M Asaduzzaman led an investigation and recommended shutdown of eight private universities on charges of providing "substandard education". Five universities were then shut in line with a probe report by a judicial commission. The UGC at that time decided to make a new law to regulate private universities more effectively. The draft was made at the time but was not signed into a law for reasons never explained by the government. After the present caretaker government took power, the UGC updated the old draft with some new provisions before sending it to the education ministry for initial vetting. The ministry sent it to the council of advisers and the cabinet decided in principle to pass the new law and sent it to the law ministry for scrutiny. Prof Islam said the education ministry had a meeting on the proposed law Monday.