VC Prof Maksud has formed a committee to identify why the premier institution has dropped out of top 300 universities in Asia
Published : 13 May 2024, 04:15 AM
After falling out of the 300 top universities in Asia, Dhaka University is actively seeking ways to get better in areas where possible to improve its standing, but Professor ASM Maksud Kamal sees challenges.
The vice-chancellor of the century-old institution sat down with bdnews24.com to talk about how the rankings are calculated, and why Bangladesh lags behind others, even South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan.
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Dhaka University slipped from last year’s 186th position in Asia on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
Asked why, Professor Kamal attributed Dhaka University's ranking challenges to several key factors: a low teacher-student ratio, limited research output, a scarcity of foreign faculty and students, and insufficient revenue from industry collaborations and patents.
INDIA AND PAKISTAN
According to the Times Higher Education Ranking, India has 40 of the top 300 universities in Asia. Pakistan has 12, but Bangladesh has none.
Why is this, and what are the shortcomings that are holding Bangladeshi universities back?
Prof Kamal said India and Pakistan usually recruit faculty from the position of an assistant professor who must hold a PhD.
“So, that faculty member receives a good number of financial support in order to procure the research and academic equipment. We don't have that support in our country. And again, the Indian government is providing a good amount of scholarships for the students,” he said.
“They are doing huge research work by the students who are doing the PhD. For that reason, their publication is relatively higher.”
“They also get support from the government to do good quality research work. And they also earn money in different ways, by consultancy, by different types of university-industry collaboration, etc. We have started that journey in our country,” the vice-chancellor said.
He hopes the research environment and understanding of the research and developing the research environment in Dhaka University and also in other universities will gradually improve.
“Because, the present government wants to improve the research environment in the country. And it is also providing equipment and other sorts of support,” he said.
Pakistan’s higher education underwent huge reforms during the 2001-2008 regime of General Pervez Musharraf, according to the Dhaka University VC.
“And under those reforms, the Pakistan government also provided a handsome amount of scholarship.”
COMMITTEE
The vice-chancellor said he formed a committee to find out how the universities in other countries did well in the rankings while Dhaka University lagged behind.
He believes the university did not do well in public opinion and random surveys in the rankings.
“Another area, as I mentioned before, is research papers, as well as citations,” he added.
Dhaka University does not have foreign teachers, “because of, again, the lack of budget”, Prof Kamal said.
The teacher-student ratio, which is four, is also low at the university, he said. “We have around one faculty member for 17 or 18 students.”
RECRUITMENT
Lecturers are often accused of being hired based on their master's results, political influence or nepotism.
Has this changed or should Bangladesh do more to change this perception or the reality of the situation?
Prof Kamal threw a question in answer to that query.
“Have you seen this type of report, newspaper reports, in the last four years?” he asked
“And I can tell you that in the last four years, there was no example of nepotism, of political recruitment... or political identity being the main parameter to recruit a lecturer or a faculty member,” he said.
Dhaka University follows some criteria for teacher recruitment now, according to the VC.
One is academic results and the other is publications, he claimed.
“Also, we ask the chairman or the director of the department or institute regarding the previous history of the students [who apply for a teacher’s job] – whether they would be a good faculty member.”
HOW OTHERS ARE DIFFERENT
In the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and other countries are attracting foreign students
“And in order to attract the foreign students, the ranking is an important area. Students would like to get admission to a higher-ranking institution, and then they get paid
“But in our university, our students almost complete their studies with a nominal amount of financial involvement. So, here, since we do not have any income from the students, we do not have any income from the industry,” VC Kamal said.
In the developed nations, under that higher education framework, industries are bound to spend certain amounts on research at the universities, according to Prof Kamal.
“We do not have that sort of support in our university. So, for many reasons, we are not moving ahead in rankings.”