Building a world-class university

Photo: Amirul Rajiv

THE Rise of Asian Universities, an article written in Foreign Affairs (May-June 2010) by Richard Levin, President of Yale University, reflects the new dynamism in higher education that has gripped the Asian region. The article provides insight that provokes serious thinking about the state of higher education in Bangladesh, its intended purpose, and what it has really accomplished over the years.
For educational planners and thinkers, this is a "must-read" article to imbue its message seriously, contemplate deeply, and act in right earnest -- and soon -- if they are sincere about building a higher education system in Bangladesh that is linked to the nation's growth and development.
If nothing else, my desire behind writing this piece is to stoke the fire once again and buttress the idea that the higher education system in Bangladesh must be reinvented for the 21st century. In such a system there must be a few crown jewels to lead the way, blazing a path of innovative, relevant, exciting, and context-specific education.
Unfortunately, in a systematic search of world university rankings there was no crown jewel to be found representing Bangladesh. Only the name of the University of Dhaka peeped out timidly with a ranking somewhere in the range of 500-599.
A similar search of top ranking Asian universities showed that Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea dominate the top ten, while IIT Bombay is ranked 30th, followed by Kanpur (34), Delhi (36), and Roorkee (63). Not a single university from Bangladesh was categorised among the top 200 Asian universities.
Perhaps this is a reflection of the deep-seated problems that exist in the entire education system: Even to this day, our educational system remains very parochial, colonial, and primitive in orientation.
Such a system will not take Bangladesh forward; instead it will stunt the nation and render it ineffective in competing with its neighbors in the region who were at par on education around the time of independence and who have forged ahead resolutely in leaps and bounds, leaving Bangladesh near the bottom of the heap in educational attainments in the region and, indeed, the world.
I have tried to nurture and infuse academics from and in Bangladesh to dream of building "world-class" institutions. This is a comprehensive task that requires persistent and contemporary thinking, a credible and critical mass of academic leaders, organisation and team effort, participation of the best and brightest, and substantial resources. When brought to fruition, the returns from a world-class institution can be incalculable.

For the full version of this article please read this month's Forum, available free with The Daily Star on June 7.

Dr. Syed Saad Andaleeb is Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Program Chair, Black School of Business, Penn State, Erie, USA; Editor, Journal of Bangladesh Studies; and President, Bangladesh Development Initiative.