Published: 12:06 AM, 30 October 2026
Is Public University Ordinance 1973 Consistent With Current Educational Phenomenon?
Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed
For the past decade and a half, Bangladesh’s education sector has undergone profound structural paralysis. Our entire education system had become a process focused exclusively on certificates, dependent on rote memorization, and completely disconnected from the global employment market. According to UNESCO’s international standards, a country should allocate at least 6 percent of its gross domestic product or 20 percent of its national budget to education. However, according to information from the Ministry of Finance of the Bangladesh government, our education budget remained confined to only 1.2 to 1.4 percent of GDP for years. Although it was increased to 2 percent in the 2026–27 fiscal year, it still remains the lowest in South Asia. UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report has repeatedly highlighted this budgetary limitation. Moreover, a large portion of this allocation goes toward infrastructure and administrative expenditure, which contributes little to innovation or research. Research by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) has shown that a substantial proportion of graduates under the National University remain unable to secure suitable employment for extended periods after completing their postgraduate studies. The primary reason is the enormous gap between the practical demands of the industrial sector and the curricula taught at our universities. In the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and globally competitive skills, our classrooms are still clinging to syllabuses from two decades ago.
The historical significance Dhaka University cannot be understood if it is viewed merely as an educational institution. During colonial rule, the birth of this university was essentially the outcome of a kind of historical social contract between the state and the people of eastern Bengal. Following the Partition of Bengal in 1905, one of the principal demands of the people of eastern Bengal was educational representation and the expansion of access to higher education. The establishment of Dhaka University was, in part, a remedial initiative in response to the political discontent that emerged after the annulment of the Partition of Bengal in 1911. Consequently, the idea of social justice is inextricably linked to the university’s founding. In fact, it was established not for the privileged, but for those who had historically remained excluded from the mainstream education system. In this sense, Dhaka University was an institution of social mobility. For more than a century, it has served as a principal stepping stone to higher education and social advancement for children from farming, fishing, working-class, small-business, and lower-middle-class families in rural areas. Against this historical backdrop, the question may naturally arise: will an institution established to reduce inequality now adopt a policy that legitimizes a new form of inequality?
The admission of students from a particular educational stream or medium through special arrangements has become an ethical question for Bangladesh in the post-July period. Recent admission standards by English version in Dhaka university has become a highly discussed phenomena. German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) stated that a fundamental condition of justice is the application of the same principles to similar circumstances. If different standards are established for different groups seeking admission to the same university, there is a risk of undermining this universal principle of justice. According to American philosopher John Rawls’s (1921–2002) book A Theory of Justice, inequality is acceptable only when it benefits the least advantaged members of society. In the context of Bangladesh, the question now is whether students studying in the English-medium system belong to the group for whom special arrangements are necessary. Available information indicates that English-medium education, encompassing both domestic and foreign curricula, is the country’s most expensive and elite educational stream. Its students generally enjoy comparatively stronger language skills, international curricula, technological advantages, and opportunities for global education. Exceptions certainly exist, but policies are formulated on the basis of the overall reality, not exceptions. From the perspective of social justice, if special assistance is needed anywhere, it is for relatively marginalized and disadvantaged students, not for those who already enjoy substantial economic, political, cultural, and educational advantages
Dhaka University is not merely a university; it is part of Bangladesh’s social imagination and state machinery. Its history is the history of ordinary people, its achievements represent the success of social mobility, and its moral strength lies in its commitment to merit. English-medium students must certainly study at Dhaka University, compete with students from all other educational streams, and succeed. However, that success should come through equal competition, not through special privileges. This is because the principal responsibility of a university in a democratic state is not merely to select students; it is also to convey a moral message to society that admission opportunities at universities are equal for students from all educational streams, but recognition must be earned through individual merit, hard work, and qualifications. Therefore, the question facing Dhaka University today is just one: will it preserve its century-old founding ideals, its tradition of social justice, and the dignity it has earned as a university of the people, or will it establish a precedent of granting special privileges to create admission opportunities for students from a particular educational stream while disadvantaging students from the country’s mainstream education system?
Is Dhaka University actually operating in accordance with the Public University Ordinance or Act of 1973, under which it is supposed to function? Are vice-chancellors being appointed in the manner prescribed by this law? The law is being violated at various stages. If a university cannot comply with its own governing law, should that law not be modernized to meet contemporary needs? Has that been done? The university law has granted university teachers extensive freedom, but it has failed to ensure their accountability. Consequently, many teachers do not attend classes regularly, sometimes simply because they do not wish to. Many teachers are unable to complete their syllabuses on time, resulting in session delays. Since a student evaluation system has not been introduced, teachers are not paying sufficient attention to classroom teaching. As a result, students are suffering academically. Dhaka University is the country's largest public university. We hope that Dhaka University will follow the practices adopted by Chittagong, Rajshahi, Jahangirnagar, and other universities in teacher recruitment. It is hoped that the Dhaka University administration will come to recognize the need for reforming its teacher recruitment process and move the university forward by appointing qualified teachers.
Although almost all public universities have come to understand that it is impossible to develop a university as an academic institution without recruiting qualified teachers, Dhaka University still seems unwilling to recognize this reality. Other public universities have eventually understood that it is not possible to conduct teacher recruitment professionally through oral interviews alone. Taking the initiative with courage, the 20th Vice-Chancellor of Chittagong University amended the teacher recruitment policy, secured approval of the revised rules through the Syndicate, and began recruiting teachers through written examinations, presentations, demonstration classes, and other methods alongside oral interviews. Later, Rangamati Science and Technology University, Rajshahi University, and Jahangirnagar University began recruiting teachers through the same process. However, Dhaka University has yet to take this matter into consideration.
Education is not a charitable grant; it is the principal driving force behind the sovereignty and progress of the state. It is impossible to build a strong Bangladesh on the foundation of an education system that lacks integrity and is plagued by corruption. The younger generation of 2024 has fulfilled its responsibility—they have opened a new path toward change. Now it is the responsibility of the state and policymakers to embrace the aspirations of young people and modernize the education system. Let the establishment of an education system that inspires young people not toward subservience, but toward independent thought, wisdom, and patriotism, become the central commitment of the new Bangladesh.
Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed is
former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP and
Rotary Learning Facilitator,
Rotary Club, Dhaka Elite.
