¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·

The University Grants Commission of Bangladesh is preparing guidelines to allow the private universities to offer PhD programme.

The proposed guidelines are mainly focused on teachers while other professionals can also apply for the degree in the approved private universities.

‘I will try to finalise the guidelines within one week,’ said commission chairman Professor SMA Faiz.

The drafting of the ‘PhD Guidelines for the Private Universities of Bangladesh 2025’ started last year, which once approved would enable the private universities to run PhD programme, which only the public universities now offer. 

Mentioning that universities sustained only through maintaining their international standard and competitive capacity, the professor said, ‘We lag much behind in the areas of research as researches are expensive.’

He also said that the universities in Bangladesh lagged behind in international rankings due to a lack of international orientation, link programmes and collaboration with foreign universities.

Observing that public universities ran by own laws, the professor remarked, ‘Though we are a regulatory agency, we go forward based on collaboration and mutual understanding.’

‘For that reason we cannot dictate the public universities, we can only advise them.’

Some private universities were doing well and some even superseded the public ones, he continued.

This made formulation of the guidelines highly important, the UGC chairman said.

Professor Faiz further said that those private universities would be allowed to offer PhD degree to teachers and other professionals by fulfilling specific criteria. 

‘We are going forward with positive mind-set,’ he added.

UGC member (private university) Professor M Anwar Hossen said that the proposed guidelines focused on teachers of different faculties for ensuring quality, academic excellence, research and publication.

‘We proposed for the minimum eligibility for the PhD degree is associate professor,’ he said, adding, ‘with these their publication, research, international track records will be considered also.’

For universities—permanent campus, teacher-student ratio, standard academic environment, and lab facilities—would be eligibilities, he continued.

The guidelines would be sent to the education ministry for approval, he added.

Earlier on Monday, BRAC University and the SOAS University of London announced the launch of an innovative collaborative PhD programme aimed at nurturing a new generation of scholars dedicated to transformative global development.

The UGC gave BRAC University the required approval on May 29 this year.

Professor Faiz said that they were also working with the British High Commission in Bangladesh, British Council and the SOAS University of London to encourage more private and even public universities to come forward for joint PhD programme like this.

The British universities would be operated by their own laws while the private universities in Bangladesh would have to follow the UGC guidelines, he said.