UGC alerts students

The University Grants Commission has cautioned students against enrolling in five private universities and unapproved campuses of five other universities.

The five universities either have disputes over ownership or cases against the trustee boards or are running operation taking court orders after the government had shut down their operations.

The commission in a notice on its website gave a list of the universities. It advised students to get admitted into universities, campuses and courses approved by the government and the UGC. It also asked students to collect information on such institutions from its website.

Before issuing the notice, the UGC published advertisements in different newspapers last week to inform students and their guardians about such universities, Jesmin Parvin, deputy director (private universities) of the commission, told The Daily Star.

The caution from the statutory apex body for higher education came a day after the publication of the Higher Secondary Certificate examination results on August 18. Around nine lakh students, who passed the exam, are taking preparation for admission into universities.

America Bangladesh University and Queens University are among the five universities named in the list. The government closed the operation of both the universities but they were still running their operations, said the UGC notice.

Moreover, Queens University is having disputes over ownership.

America Bangladesh University has 16 illegal outer campuses across the country apart from its campus on Progati Sarani in Norda. The commission has already sent letters to the deputy commissioners concerned to evict the campuses as per a High Court verdict, said the notice.

IBAIS University is another troubled university, according to the notice. Its board of trustees are divided into two factions and have filed cases against each other.

Sylhet International University in Sylhet and Britannia University in Comilla have similar disputes over ownerships.

The UGC asked students not to get enrolled in the unapproved campuses of five universities -- BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Southern University Bangladesh, University of Science and Technology, University of Information Technology and Sciences and Prime University, said the notice.

“If a student gets enrolled in unapproved universities or illegal outer campuses of approved universities, the UGC or the Ministry of Education would not take the responsibility for them,” the notice read.

The commission was inquiring into the irregularities in the private universities and would update the list of troubled universities later. Students would get information regarding approved universities and campuses and courses on the UGC website, the notice added.

Contacted, UGC Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan said they issue such notices every year for the interest of students.

“In some cases, we noticed that many students, after getting admitted into institutions spending a huge amount of money, get cheated as those institutions are not the approved ones,” he said.

Asked how the universities run illegal outer campuses, Prof Mannan said the universities which have such campuses often notify them that they have shut down their operation.

“But all of them do not tell the truth. And we cannot be sure about it,” he added.

There are 94 private universities that have government permission. Eighty four are currently operating with some 4.63 lakh students.