The objective of higher education should be two folds---to provide short professional, business and technical diplomas to a large number of people so they can start earning quicklyat home and abroad or become entrepreneursand to produce a limited number of leaders in general, business, professional and technological fields with long-term bachelor and master degreeswho willlead in academia and research and guide the workers through monitoring and innovation. Unfortunately, for the lack of proper planning, far-sightedness and monitoring, higher education in Bangladesh has been unsuccessfulin capitalizing people’s talent for the development of the countrybyequipping themwith required skills orengaging them in updated research; rather, unrealistic higher education policies have left tens of thousands of highly educated people unemployed as well as depressed and the menace is alarmingly mounting day by day. Unreasonable policies and their unfitting implementation causeabsolutemisappropriation of talent, time and money. Our higher education curriculum failsin producing the skills required for the real business world at home and abroad. Thus, most of the graduates, after sixteen years of formal education find it difficult to get jobs that matchwith their expertise. Many employers complain of the unavailability ofskilledtechnical hands, whereas thousands of general-discipline graduates stay jobless for years. For example, garments and textile industrymanagement claims that they do not findsufficient skilled people to work, whereas thousands of graduates from the disciplines, like Philosophy, Islamic History, Sociology, Botany, Zoology, Geological Science  and Geography cannot get jobs because their disciplineshardly match with required expertise of the existing job market except a few.After spending sixteen years of the most productive period of their lives, they fail to earn a living. Ultimately, they crowd in the private universities for additional professional degrees (e.g. MBA, MDS, etc)or go to coaching centers for preparing for government (e.g. BCS) and private institution (e.g. banks)  jobs. In our country, political conflicts delay graduation process, so students cannot make money to support them and their families. What is the utility of the sixteen year education if it is unable to provide people with expected jobs?If we do not need graduates of particular disciplines, why should we offer bachelors and masters degrees in them? As for example, we need limited number of Philosophy graduates for teaching positions only, then why should the colleges of National University produceso many Philosophy graduates every year?We should curtail the seats in Philosophy and other least demanding subjects instate-run general universities (e.g. Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University), but in the colleges of National University, the study of least demanding subjects should be totally stopped and they should be replaced them by demanding business, professional and technical disciplines.

The government should revise the entire education system of National University (NU) as the institution is producing tens of thousands of graduates and adding huge number of inefficient workforce to the unemployed bulk of the country. With a thin exception, the students who fail to get admission in the competitive admission tests at government general or science and technology universities crowd in NU colleges where admission test is easier and in many cases is controlled by student organization of the ruling party and thus admission can be managed in different ways. Ultimately, at NU colleges, weaker students study various disciplines with substandard curriculum, low teaching quality and inadequate infrastructural support. As a result, the colleges produce inefficient graduates. Teachers are appointed through Bangladesh Civil Service examination where the questions are set on general knowledge and only a written module on the specific disciplines. Grades of the previous exams do not affect the selectionprocess much unlike state-run universities; thus, a graduate with a mere second class can be a teacher at NU and teach master degree students. Moreover, the candidates do not need to go through proper screening like demonstration or interview with experts of the respective disciplines.

Number of vocational, technical, agricultural and health science colleges should be increased in the country to offer more updated diplomas that fit for job opportunities at home and abroad. Moreover, these diplomas will train the graduates to becomeentrepreneurs. Government should encourage banks to disburse loans on thin interest as well as easy installments for entrepreneurs. Madrassa education should also be revised to make their graduates updated with the world and to equip them with hands-on skills to enable them to work at home and abroad. English language and computer education should be compulsory in all departments at madrassas.

National University colleges, vocational colleges, technical colleges and madrassas may offer   2-3 year professional diplomas in the following areas: English Language, Creative Writing, Business English, Secretarial Science, Computer Science, IT, Hard ware engineering, software engineering, E-commerce, Web designing, 3D animation and visual FX, video editing, photography, interior design, Fridge, TV and Car repairing,Freelancing, Business Administration, Trading, Tourism and hospitality, Nutrition, Culinary Science, Hotel Management, Islamic Banking, Merchandising, Quality Controlling, Textile, Agriculture, Fishery, Poultry, veterinary, Sports Science, Health Sciences, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Counseling, Public Speaking have good demands for jobs at home and abroad. These diplomas will provide them with quick jobs at home and abroad; also, they will prepare them as entrepreneurs. Moreover, a diploma in freelancing or computer can help the graduates earn a lot of money from online jobs while sitting at home.

All bachelor degrees irrespective of the disciplines must have three common courses. First, all disciplines must have English foundation courses that will make students competent in the four skills of English language through practicing with real life materials. Every college or university should have at least one English language center. Second, every discipline must have a course titled “Career Foundation” that will prepare students for prospective jobs by giving them related news of the job market and make them ready through practicing presentation, mock interview and coaching. Third, every discipline must have a dissertation or internship module to equip them with hands-on skills. This dissertation or internship will make them competent for jobs at home and abroad as well as for admission for masters abroad. All the masters’ degrees should be two-year research degrees. Only a few universities and colleges having adequate number of proficient faculty members and instrument for carrying out research should be assigned for offering masters degrees.

At NU colleges, many teachers ignore classroom teaching and force students to take paid lessons at their residence or other places. Ultimately, only a few teachers complete MPhil and though the government provides with them sufficient financial and other supports for higher studies. The curriculum at NU is backdated and unsuitable to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  For example, the BA in English curriculum does not have any listening and speaking module, so students who complete graduation in English cannot communicate in English. Many colleges have the departments like Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, etc., but they do not have adequate lab facilities. Students graduate basically by memorizing answers of a limited number of questions and jump to job market without deep knowledge or hands-on skills. National University is the largest asset in our education as it is spread all over the country and it accommodates the maximum number of students. So, we need to use this resource wisely for the utmost benefit

The goal of higher education should be producing a large number of diploma graduates in professional, technical and technological disciplines to work as workforce and a limited number of bachelors as well as masters graduates in arts, science, technical and technological disciplines for academia and research who will ultimately lead, monitor and guide the huge workforce. We need to study the current trends of higher education of the developed countries and devise our own higher education policies customized with our context, needs and goals.

The writer teaches at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia