Cooperation between public and private universities needs to be expanded to improve the quality of higher education

Eminent persons related to higher education have emphasized the importance of working on the basis of mutual cooperation between the public and private universities of Bangladesh in the expansion and quality improvement of higher education. The seminar was held on the initiative of the International Sustainable Development Institute (ISDI) at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts, USA, last Friday (October 6).

In the organized seminar, they emphasized the need for direct cooperation of the government in improving the quality of private universities in Bangladesh. The day-long seminar was attended by teachers, researchers, students from various universities around the world and top officials and teachers of the Ministry of Education and private universities of Bangladesh.

The chief guest at the seminar was Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Economic Adviser. Mashiur Rahman. Acknowledging the contribution of private universities in the expansion of higher education in Bangladesh by participating in the discussion, he said that private universities must be focused on maintaining the quality of education. Apart from this, he urged entrepreneurs of private universities to encourage research and innovative education.

Dr. Abu Taher, representative of the University Grants Commission, said that emphasis should be placed on increasing the quality of the overall education environment without considering the numbers. The panel discussant in the seminar was New England Higher Education Commission-NECHE (NECHE) Vice President Dr. Carol Anderson.

The panellists also discussed how to increase the acceptance of higher education accrediting institutions in addition to developing international quality curricula, so that private universities can be branded and gain an acceptable position in the rankings.

In the seminar, the teachers and researchers working in different universities of the world discussed about artificial intelligence or AI, the development of metaverse technology, ethical position, legal challenges and future possibilities in the recent technology world. One of the key-note speakers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Dr. Anant Agarwal.

Iqbal Yusuf, the executive director of the institute, and Dr. Nurul Aman, professor of the University of Massachusetts, gave a welcome speech at the seminar of the Boston-based think tank 'International Sustainable Development Institute' or ISDI in collaboration with the NorthSouth University of Bangladesh and the American University of Bangladesh (AIUB).

In addition to this, member of the Board of Trustees of North South University participated in discussions on six different topics including the communication of international universities with the private universities of Bangladesh and research cooperation. Junaid Kamal Ahmed, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of AIUB Ishtiaq Abedin, Professor of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Mohammad Karim, Professor of Framingham State University. Sandra Rahman and Senior Research Fellow of International Sustainable Development Dr. Abdullah Shibli and others.

The participants pointed out the immense importance of such arrangements in the expansion of higher education through mutual cooperation and experience exchange programs between teachers, administrators, researchers and stakeholders of universities in the United States and Bangladesh.