country report of Bangladesh about Student Affairs in higher education.

1. Background information on student affairs/services
Tertiary education in Bangladesh comprises two categories of institutions: degree awarding
universities and colleges affiliated to the National University (NU). There were only 4 universities
in Bangladesh at the time of independence in 1971. All of those universities were publicly financed
autonomous entities. At present, there are 29 such universities. Private universities are a relatively
new phenomenon in this country. In early 1990s, private sector came forward to establish
universities. Since the country experienced a spectacular growth in private universities– mostly in
and around Dhaka and couple of other large cities. At present, there are more than 50 Private
Universities. Number of colleges providing tertiary level education is around 1,400. Most of them
offer BA (pass) education of three years’ duration and only one-third of them offer B.A. (Honors)
courses. All of these colleges are affiliated to the NU, meaning, NU awards the degrees.
Nevertheless, access to tertiary level education in Bangladesh is still very limited. Only about 12
percent of the year twelve graduates can enter into higher education. More than 80 percent of these
students are in the NU affiliated colleges. Others are in the public and private universities. Though
the number of private universities increased in recent decade, the student population served by
these private universities is growing rather slowly.
Typical services and programmes offered
Basically Student affairs admin or practitioner hold responsibilities to groom and nurture the
students to be socially responsible and helping the freshmen students in improving their academic
performance as well as in smooth transitions from high school to university life. It also provides

2. all the necessary environment to prepare the graduating students for the professional life and
helping their transition to career through internship placement, job placement, on-campus
recruitment, career fair and various other activities.
Qualifications/training of staff
Student services administrators generally have at least a bachelor's degree. There are hardly any
formal student affairs professional preparation programmes. Managers from other service-based
industries learn and adapt to the needs of the student affairs profession. As a result, there is a need
to offer professional education programmes to train student affairs administrators.
Organizational structure of student affairs/services
Since the concept of 'student affairs' is fairly new in Bangladesh, senior positions such as the dean
of students are non-existent. The head of career services usually reports to the head of an academic
department or institution. All other student services report to the administrative head of the
institution.
Issues and challenges for student affairs/services
Quality • Low quality, particularly in some of the
newer private universities and in the affiliated
colleges

3. • The difficulties in recruiting, retaining and
offering adequate professional development to
academic staff
• Lack of internal and external quality
assurance measures
Relevance • The absence of a national strategy for
research • Linkages between university and
industry are weak. • Lack of Information on
graduate employment
Financing • The low levels of government funding and
the very high percentage of that funding
allocated to salaries, leading to inadequate
funding for equipment, computers, books and
journals and building maintenance.
Governance • The governance arrangements in four of the
largest public universities and many higher
education colleges fuel politicisation of
academic decision making and operations.
ICT • The limitations of the national ICT

4. infrastructure which, combined with low
funding, lead to very limited access to the
internet and the international academic
community by staff and students.
Websites of student affairs/services professional associations/organizations
Currently there is no professional association/organization catering to the needs of the student
affairs administrators. There are few programmes that prepare professionals for education
administration in general. Two websites that may be of interest are:
National Academy for Educational Management
http://naem.gov.bd/
Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics
http://banbeis.gov.bd/new/
Websites with links to student affairs publications and research. Little publication/research is
done in the area of education administration in Bangladesh.
Haque, H M Jahirul & Das, D. & Farzana, Riaheen. (2011). Satisfaction of student services in
tertiary level: Perspective Bangladesh. European Journal of Social Sciences. 19. 286-296.

5. References
[1] Bangladesh University Grants Commission (2008), Annual Report-2008
[2] Bangladesh University Grants Commission: Internet entry: http://www.ugc.gov.bd
[3] Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS): Directorate of
University education, Internet entry:
http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/db_bb/university_educaiton_1.htm
[4] Bangladesh University Grants Commission (2006), Strategic Plan for Higher Education in
Bangladesh: 2006-2026, Dhaka.
[5] Haque, H M Jahirul & Das, D. & Farzana, Riaheen. (2011). Satisfaction of student services in
tertiary level: Perspective Bangladesh. European Journal of Social Sciences. 19. 286-296.