President asks pvt universities not to commercialise education

President Zillur Rahman yesterday urged the private universities to provide education of international standards and not to commercialise the higher education.
The private universities will have to achieve international standards so that nobody can question the quality of education, he said while presiding over the 10th convocation of the American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid was the special guest and US Ambassador James F Moriarty spoke as the convocation speaker.
At the convocation, 1040 students received graduate and postgraduate degrees while three students won chancellor's gold medals for their outstanding academic results.
President Zillur Rahman urged the private universities to act like a welfare organisation with a view to contributing to society-building process alongside providing quality education.
"It will be awful for a developing country like ours, if the education system is used commercially like commodities in a free market economy," he said.
Mentioning that quality education is a must to face global challenges, President Zillur said the youth will lag behind, if the country's educational institutions fail to move forward at par with the quality of other institutes across the world.
"We can't compromise with the quality of education under any circumstances for the greater interest of the country and the nation," he said.
Congratulating fresh graduates, the president asked them never to forget the country and its people, nor compromise with untruth and injustice during their professional life.
"Don't tie yourself within the limited periphery of your job; try to utilise your knowledge, talent and ethics in good work for attaining welfare of your nation," the president said.
US Ambassador James F Moriarty urged every graduates to act as ambassador of Bangladesh in all their cross interactions.
He also asked the new graduates to serve the nation and ultimately the world, saying: "Time doesn't have to be bad, if we all rise to the challenges that face the world today."
Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Prof Nazrul Islam, AIUB Vice Chancellor Dr Carmen Z Lamagna and Founder Chairman of AIUB Board of Trustees Dr Anwarul Abedin also spoke.