Private University (Amendment) Act 2009             

   APUB urges govt to ditch the bill            

UNB, Dhaka

Leaders of the Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) Tue-sday requested the government to ditch the proposed bill titled 'Private University (Amendment) Act 2009' to ensure education-friendly atmosphere in country's higher education.
"If the government gets the bill through parliament, country's higher education sector, mostly the 51 private universities, will hit a deadlock," said APUB chairman and former adviser of caretaker government CM Shafi Sami at a press conference at Dhaka Repo-rters Unity (DRU).
He noted that the proposed law provides for bifurcating private universities' boards of governors into Syndicate and Trustee Board for governing the private universities.
"If we provide power and economic responsibilities to separate authorities, a deadlock-like situation will arise in governing the private universities as nobody will take interest in investing their money in this sector without power," he feared.
CM Sami said that the roles and work areas of the Academic Council and the Curriculum Committee will be changed under the proposed bill for establishing control of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Criticizing the law in the making, the former adviser lamented that the proposed bill is giving special facilities to foreign universities in establishing campus in Bangladesh while the domestic universities will have to follow the bill strictly.
"It is an unruly rule for us," said Sami, also an ex-foreign secretary.
He said that the new bill also asks the private university authorities to take permission from UGC in determining tuition fee for the students. "As the UGC does not provide any allocation for the private universities, why we will take permission in determining tuition fee?" he questioned.
National Prof Nurul Islam, APUB vice-chairman Prof Abul Quasem Hyder and APUB secretary-general Prof Dr M Alimullah Mian, among others, also spoke at the press conference.