AUAP to “empower students for a prosperous Bangladesh”

In conversation with Sabur Khan, president of the Association of the Universities of Asia and the Pacific (AUAP) and chairman of Daffodil International University (DIU).

The Daily Star (TDS): What is AUAP? How does it work?

Sabur Khan (SK): Dr Wichit Srisa-an, former education minister of Thailand, initiated AUAP in 1995 to create a platform for students to share the best practices, research, knowledge and so on. The association has expanded in the last 27 years. Initially, it was thought to be limited to the Asia-Pacific region. But now, AUAP has emerged as a global platform. However, we mainly focus on the universities of the Asia-Pacific region.

TDS: As the recently appointed president of AUAP, what is your vision to carry forward the organisation?

SK: The beauty of this association is that when one's presidency is over, he returns to serve as president of the executive board and the advisory board for the next two years. Therefore, there is a continuation within AUAP. As the current president, my target is to make AUAP the right voice for higher education. Moreover, through AUAP, students will benefit and get more joint research opportunities.

TDS: As a member of AUAP, what role does DIU play?

SK: The major agenda of this association is to share the best practices among students. Daffodil International University (DIU) is in the top position for research and international relations. We send many students abroad every year to achieve higher education and our students receive international funds. Moreover, we encourage our students to participate in events as logistics support, volunteers and more to help them learn about leadership in the future.

Furthermore, DIU gives importance to research in association with AUAP. As we want to brand Bangladesh, we organised an AUAP conference. We invited the education ministers, officials of four other ministers, the University Grants Commission, the Mayor of Dhaka, and delegates from foreign countries to show them how AUAP is important to us.

TDS: How will Bangladeshi students benefit from this association?

SK: The most beneficial thing will be the student exchange programmes. The student exchange programmes will help students share knowledge with each other, which will widen their understanding on other countries. The networking among the students will be stronger. This program will also help students to be modest and treat others with courtesy, which I think at present is lacking in Bangladesh. I believe students should be developed as skilled manpower in every sector. The student exchange programmes will act as a catalyst to empower them with the required knowledge and skills for a prosperous Bangladesh.

Our commitment is to send as many students as possible abroad through AUAP. Joint Research and Joint Ph.D. and other academic collaborations are an important part of AUAP within its member organization. Research Funding from various sources and helping Research activities are always a great priority of AUAP.

The interview was taken by Nabiha Noha