Eleven private universities spent nothing on research in
2011, a feature that does not go with such institutions as there is no
alternative to conducting research for maintaining the standard of tertiary and
higher education, said the University Grants Commission.
The UGC in its yet-to-be-published report for 2011 also
said research in many private universities was limited to just one to three
research projects. But under Section 9(6) of the Private Universities Act,
2010, a private university is bound to spend a significant portion of its
budget for conducting research.
Many private universities have very limited scope for
research as they lack the required infrastructure, library facilities, etc,
said UGC officials.
UGC chairman professor AK Azad Chowdhury said no
university would be allowed to run without conducting necessary research work,
because it is essential for tertiary and higher education.
The Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh
vice-chairman Abul Quasem Haider said it was tough for private universities to
conduct research as they lacked the funds required.
There were 54 private universities in 2011 and now the
number has increased to 71, with 16 set up in 2012 and one this year.
According to the UGC report, the universities that did
not spend a single penny on research are Darul Ihsan University, the People’s
University of Bangladesh, Sylhet International University, South East
University, IBAIS University, City University, United International University,
the University of
South Asia, the University of International Technology
and Science, the Royal University of Dhaka, and Central Women’s University.
The report says six universities conducted just one
research project that year, two of them two, and two others three.
It shows that the remaining 41 universities together
spent around Tk 25.91 crore, or on average Tk 63.20 lakh, on research in 2011.
The UGC chair said they were continuing with pressing the
universities to increase research activities.
‘Because of the continuous pressure for the last
two/three years from the UGC, several renowned private institutions have
started spending significant amounts for carrying out research projects. And we
surely will pressure the rest into doing that,’ he added.
Abul Quasem, however, has a quite different view of the
picture. He said as tuition fees were the main source of funding the
operations, maintenance, and expansion of the universities, ‘it is really tough
for them to allocate funds for research’. (Read the original story)