Academia–Industry Alignment Urged to Boost Graduate Employability

Prominent academics and researchers from home and abroad have called on universities to create greater opportunities for students to acquire job-market-relevant technical, technological, and language skills alongside traditional academic programmes.

The call was made on Wednesday, January 14, during the third day of the South Asian Higher Education Conference, at a session titled “Future Roadmap of Higher Education: Enhancing Graduate Employability and Industry–Academia Collaboration.”

The conference is being held at Hotel Le Méridien in Dhaka under the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) ongoing Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation (HEAT) project.

Chaired by BRAC University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, the session featured UGC Member Professor Dr. Mohammad Ayub Islam, BUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Abu Borhan Mohammad Badruzzaman, Rector of Pakistan’s National University of Modern Languages Major General (Retd.) Shahid Kayani, and Executive Director of icddr,b Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed as speakers.

Discussants included Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. A.M. Sarwar Uddin Chowdhury, North South University Vice-Chancellor Professor Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, and Pabna University of Science and Technology Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. S.M. Abdul Awal.

UGC Member Professor Ayub Islam said strengthening industry–academia collaboration has become an urgent necessity. He noted that it is no longer possible to prepare students for the global job market solely through conventional classroom teaching while ignoring the demands of industry and commerce. To keep pace with technological change and fulfil the true purpose of higher education, he said, effective collaboration between industry and universities is essential.

Speakers at the session emphasized the need to deepen ties between universities and industry, recommending the appointment of Industry Relations Officers at every university to assess workforce skill demands. They also urged universities to take initiatives to establish industry parks and science parks.

Experts further advised the formulation of time-appropriate policy frameworks and regular curriculum updates to ensure effective collaboration between higher education institutions and industry.

The conference brought together 30 international participants, including representatives from the United Kingdom, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the World Bank. Representatives from UGCs and higher education commissions of SAARC countries, along with vice-chancellors, academics, and researchers from various universities, also took part in the event.

DBTech/BTO/EK/OR