Governance of private universities

A class in progress at a private university

Establishing higher level educational institutions in the private sector is a daunting task, but implementing effective governance in those institutions is even more challenging, for it takes a long time, a visionary mind, serious commitments, consistency, concerted efforts and finally enormous sacrifices. Indeed, nowhere in the world can trust and credibility of an institution be achieved overnight.
The idea of establishing a private university in Bangladesh came about as a result of a growing number of students seeking a higher education, a need for which public universities were insufficient. Following independence in 1971, there were only four public universities and the government was not in a position to mobilise funds to establish and run an adequate number of universities with required enrolment capacities. By mid-1980s, the number gradually rose to seven, but in the subsequent decades it shot up to nearly 90. Of these figures, 31 are government funded autonomous entities and the rest belong to the private sector.
Over a period of time there has been a paradigm shift across the globe, with a tilt toward privatisation and market-driven education policies. Some visionary philanthropic business leaders, at that point of time, came forward with the concept of establishing private universities with qualified, proven and competent academic leaders and generated resources from their own funds. They took a considerable amount of risks in establishing private universities. During this critical juncture, few people could believe that the private sector would be able to provide quality higher education.
Nevertheless, the government realised that without establishing private universities, the demand for higher education could not be met. Accordingly, under the Private University Act 1992, the dreams of the private entrepreneurs were partly fulfilled. By mid 1990s, the North South University (NSU) graduates entered the job market and received employment opportunities at the multi-national companies and corporate business houses. This success indicated that the education imparted by the first private university was as good as, if not better than, that of established public universities. Of late, the government has enforced the Private Universities Act 2010 to bring about discipline in the private sector higher education.
Currently, there are about 60 private universities running in the country; NSU being the pioneering model that had started functioning in 1993. Taking advantage of the marketability and population concentration, almost 85% of the private universities established their campus in Dhaka city alone. This percentage is progressively reduced in the case of Chittagong and Sylhet, without having any private university established in Barisal and Rangpur divisions.
Nevertheless, there are momentous differences among the private universities in terms of governance status, quality of education provided, performance of the administrative bodies, infrastructure facilities, quality of students' enrolment, including faculty recruitment policies and access to resources. In a survey the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC)  in 2011 categorised only 10 private universities to be in the 'A' category, and a few of them being comparable to similar universities anywhere in the world. A large number of other universities, however, were placed in the 'poorly' performing list in the variables, and were considered as 'diploma mills' rather than full-fledged universities.
One comparative advantage with the private universities, however, is that these institutions are officially politics-free and supposed to function purely as academic institutions, and faculty and students by and large are not activists of mainstream political parties. It helps to maintain the academic calendar without having any session jams as compared to the public universities. There is no major political violence or troubles prevalent at the university campus, either. Overall, the emergence of the private universities has created a competitive environment for the public universities and in this race the former is increasingly becoming visible both in terms of number of enrolment and overall performance.
For example, the image and reputation of NSU is global by now. On March 29, 2013, NSU students received the United Nations 'Best Delegation' title in the Global Young Leaders Summit held in New York. This year the European Business Association (EBA) also offered 'Best University Award' to NSU in recognition of its Master in Business studies. Many such recognitions have been received by other schools/departments and their students and faculty members locally and internationally. Other top ranking private universities including Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), BRAC University etc. also have earned similar reputations.
As a matter of fact, private universities do have their internal governance problems. Because of their shortfall, some of these universities have been closed down by the government in October 2006, but obtaining a Stay Order from the Court few of them are functioning. In some cases the Trustee Board of the universities was divided into factions and the feuding parties have gone to the court for the resolution of their internal affairs. In some institutions, back door admission, lack of integrity of some quarters, dependency on hired faculty members, and teachers' alignment with the management politics are affecting the quality education.
For the smooth functioning of the private universities, all the stakeholders including the government, the UGC, and other administrative bodies, teachers, and students have their respective role to play. Finally, private universities should come forward to equip themselves to meet the challenges and needs of the 21st century and foster both knowledge-creation and knowledge-distribution to help create students who are worthy citizens of the country.

The writer, an esteemed educationist, is a Professor at North South University. E-mail: mehaq57@gmail.com