The government has decided not to allow after September 2011 admission of students to private universities which have failed to shift to permanent campuses by the stipulated time of five years.
‘Out of the 51 private universities, 41 have failed to meet the conditions on which they were given temporary permission. It is a matter of great concern that only eight of them have shifted to their own campuses while 22 have not taken any such move although they are expanding their activities,’ the education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, said at a briefing at the ministry on Sunday.
He, however, said they would be allowed to enrol students and to introduce more academic programmes if they could run their activities on their own campuses and provide necessary facilities for students in five years.
All the private universities but the ASA University Bangladesh and the East Delta University given temporary permission under the private university act of 1992 have crossed the five-year deadline to shift to their respective campuses, officials said.
In keeping with the Private University Act 2010, the permanent campuses should be established on an area of one acre in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan cities and on two acres in other areas five years inside the issuance of temporary permission instead of five acres of land as stipulated in the 1992 act.
The errant universities would not be allowed to advertise admission and introduce any more courses or programmes after the September 2011 deadline, the minister said.
‘But the university authorities must take all measures so that the students admitted before September 2011 could complete their academic sessions smoothly as the activities of the defaulters will be limited to the current activities for a tenure of five more years,’ Nurul Islam said.
He expressed his concerns saying that most private universities were located in residential areas, on busy roads and even in the restaurant buildings and CNG stations in the capital. ‘Most of the private universities are running as business organisations while some owners are treating the universities as their family institutions.’
The minister said the authorities from now on would strictly go by the Private University Act 2010 and take stern action in keeping with law against the universities that are failing to ensure necessary facilities and infrastructure for students.
‘We will very soon give temporary permission for the establishment of universities by fresh entrepreneurs, who are ready to conform to all the conditions under the law. Preference will be given to the applicants intending to set up universities outside Dhaka,’ the minister said in reply to questions.
The University Grants Commission chair, Nazrul Islam, said that private universities had been divided into five categories in terms of compliance.
There are eight universities in Category 1 — North South University, University of Science and Technology, International Islamic University, Chittagong, Ahsanullah Science and Technology University, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Brac University and Bangladesh University of Business and Technology.
In Category 5, there are seven universities — Darul Ihsan University, Stamford University, Leading University, Sylhet International University, Bangladesh University, University of Development Alternative and Ibais University, according to the UGC evaluation made public at the briefing.
