Campus corner
UGC to be strengthened more
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Friday said University Grants Commission (UGC) will be strengthened further with giving more power to ensure its better contribution to enhance quality of higher education.
The proposed Higher Education Commission (HEC) would replace the existing regulatory UGC with enhanced authority to monitor higher education in universities, he told an award-giving ceremony at the auditorium of National Museum in the capital.
The awards and certificates were distributed among top ranking colleges at the function.
Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) Prof Abdul Mannan, among others, addressed the function with Vice-chancellor of National University Prof Dr Harun-or-Rashid in the chair. Nahid said the government was set to constitute an accreditation council to rate the public and private universities alongside a new commission with enhanced authority to monitor their academic activities.
The council will introduce grading system of both public and private universities based on their standard of education, he added.
I hope that the accreditation council bill will be passed at the next session of the Jatiya Sangsad, the minister added. Nahid said budgetary allocation should be at least four per cent of GDP or 15 per cent of the national budget as the World Education Forum laid emphasis on enhancing public funding for education.
The World Education forum set a minimum budgetary allocation of four per cent of GDP or 15 per cent of total budget, he added.
Nahid described ranking system at college level as good beginning and there is long way to make it an effective one. I hope the new ranking system will contribute significantly to identify best colleges based on good academic performance, he added.
Rajshahi College secured top position among the honours colleges at the national level for its best academic performance for 2015 while Eden Mohila College, Dhaka achieved second position, Dhaka College third, Dhaka Commerce College fourth and Govt Brajmohan(BM) College, Barisal fifth position.
UAP holds seminar on press freedom
The Department of Law and Human Rights of the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) on Friday organised a seminar titled Press Freedom in Bangladesh: Issues and Concerns.
Eminent lawyer Dr Shahdeen Malik moderated the seminar while Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Vice-chancellor of UAP chaired the session.
Among others, Mizanur Rahman Khan of daily Prothom Alo, Tushar Abdullah of Somoy TV, Shakhawat Liton of The Daily Star, Abu Saleh of daily Samakal and Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua spoke at the seminar. Faculty, students took part at the seminar that concluded with vote of thanks by Dr A N M Atahar Ali, Head of the department.
Stress on proper infrastructure design
RAJSHAHI: Speakers in a scientific seminar in Rajshahi underscored the need for proper design of any infrastructural development work for the sake of its sustainability.
In the present context, importance of design and its implementation has been enhanced to a greater extent in both home and abroad. So, there is no alternative to boosting professional skills in this regard.
Department of Civil Engineering of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) organised the seminar titled Sustainable Infrastructure: Necessity and Time-fitting held at RUET Central Auditorium recently.
Vice-chancellor-In-Charge of RUET Prof Dr Abdus Sobhan addressed the opening session as chief guest with Prof NHM Kamruzzaman, Head of Civil Engineering, in the chair. In the technical session, Professor Dr AFM Saiful Amin from Department of Civil Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) presented two research papers on Design, Construction and Maintenance of Bridges in Bangladesh: In Past, Present and Future and Strengthening of Bridges and Building.
He says bridges are the life lines of not only a country but a region or beyond. This is true for Bangladesh as her geopolitical boundaries place the country in a strategic situation giving ample opportunity to become a hub for a sub-regional to global land transport network.
Independent/agency
