# 15 Uni not spent money
# 12 uni spent less than Tk1lakh
# 89 uni not implemented UGC Act
# Most uni spending a nominal amount
Govt needs more sincerity to increase research
- Dr. Manzoorul Islam, Emeritus Prof, DU
If we neglect research, we have nothing to do
- Dr Biswajit Chanda, Member, UGC
The relationship between higher education and research is very close. Research is one of the objectives of higher education. Various types of research are being done on various subjects including science, social, and arts, around the world. To keep pace with the world, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has included research in the Private Universities Act.
Although there is a law, except for a few private universities, most of them are not following the law. Most of the universities are settling the debt by spending a nominal amount. UGC says they have nothing to do if research is neglected. This problem is due to a lack of monitoring systems throughout the year. Academicians feel that 11 universities including BRAC have followed the UGC Act. Recently, this information has emerged in the latest published report of UGC.
It is known that 100 private universities are running educational programs in the country. Out of these 89 private universities have not followed the UGC Act. 15 studies did not spend any money. The number of universities that have spent less than Tkone lakh is 12. This has resulted in a violation of the UGC's Private Universities Act. Section 9 of UGC Act 2010, Conditions for Certificate of Private University states that every private university shall fulfill the following conditions for a certificate under this Act. The condition is that a portion of the annual budget of the private university should be allocated for research as determined by the commission. The UGC has directed expenditure on research at 2 percent of the total expenditure. According to the report, 85 private universities spent more or less money on research in 2022, according to the data sent by the university. The total expenditure of universities in this sector was Tkone hundred 39 crore 31 lakh 48 thousand.
On average, each university spent Tk 1 crore 65 lakh. BRAC University has spent the most in this sector. The university has spent Tk58 crore 83 lakh.
Which is more than 6 percent of the total expenditure of the university. Regarding non-research, private universities said that they do not have much money to spend on research after running the university. It is difficult to run a university. They can't do research with their own money. It would have been possible if the government had paid them some money for research. In this regard, the Vice-Chancellor of Sylhet International University said that there are many types of expenses in running a private university.
Not all of their income comes from students. They spend for the university by matching the expenses of donors and well-wishers. Then they don't have the money to do research at their own expense. If the government had given some money as a subsidy, we could have spent it on research. Universities that spent less than 2 percent of UGC on research said they spent some on research. This time there was no more capacity than this. They said that they will spend more in the future. Biswajit Chanda, the member in charge of private universities of UGC, said that universities should be self-motivated for research.
If they neglect research, we have nothing to do. They cannot be punished if they are negligent. At the end of the year, we get information. After receiving the information we realized they did not do the research. There needs to be a system of continuous monitoring of compliance with research and other laws. Dr. Manzoorul Islam, Emeritus Professor of Dhaka University, said that among private universities, there are ten, who spend a lot on research. Dhaka or Chattogram University cannot give the money that North-South or BRAC University gives for research. Apart from these ten, there are ten other universities that do considerable research and encourage and facilitate teachers in research work. In most private universities, there is no research except for research articles on the teachers' own needs and efforts.
They are business organizations. They pressure teachers but pay very less. They have no motivation for research, regular seminars or research-like activities, sports, cultural activities, or student-friendly activities except earning money. Talking about the efforts of UGC, he said that the University Grants
Commission is trying to bring them under one rule, but it is not possible mainly for two reasons. Due to the lack of manpower and the political affiliation of the owners of these universities. These universities do not give much importance to the granting commission. So solving this problem is only possible if the government is sincere.
Encouraging teachers in research, this educationist also said, I have taught as a full-time teacher in ULAB for a few years. This university spends well on research. Rewards researchers with large sums of money when articles are published in Scopus-indexed journals.
ZH
