Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman (Additional Duties) Prof. Muhammad Alamgir urged to emphasize setting appropriate planning and implementing those in line of giving importance on the history of social transformations of Bangladesh. Besides, he suggested to open new departments and bring changes in the university curriculum, if necessary, to face the challenges of digitization.
He shared these points while addressing a round table meeting on “Social Transformation and Cooperation in Higher Education” organized by UGC. This meeting was organized on Thursday, May 2, 2024.
Germany’s Bauhaus University Vice-Chancellor Dr. Alrik Kach, University Chair of Resource Management Professor Dr. Edward Kraft, UGC member Prof. Dr. Md. Sajjad Hossain, Professor Dr. Vishwajit Chand, Professor Dr. Hasina Khan, UGC Secretary Dr. Ferdous Zaman and the officers of the commission along with the directors of various departments participated in the round table meeting.
Professor Alamgir said, the history of society plays an important role in social transformation. Digitization is a big challenge in Bangladesh’s higher education like education in other countries of the world. To cope with this challenge, our higher education institutions are introducing new subjects and bringing changes in the curriculum.
He also said that Bangladesh is now passing the era of demographic dividend. The working population of the country is very large. Converting the large working population into skilled human resources is a major challenge for the country. He mentioned that it is important to take and implement proper planning.
Vice-Chancellor of Bauhaus University Dr. Alrik Kach identified society’s history, politics, ecology, economics and ensuring the use of modern technology as one of the challenges of higher education. He thinks that these are important elements of social transformation and to meet the challenges of social change, it is necessary to plan properly on these issues.
Bauhaus University Chair of Resource Management Professor Dr. Echard Kraft said, Bauhaus University in Bangladesh is working jointly with Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Mongla Port, Chittagong University of Science and Technology and Mongla Port on waste management. In his speech, he gave a picture of the development of Bangladesh universities and German universities in the last 15 years.
Speakers in the meeting said that the use of technology is increasing significantly in all areas of the world and technology is affecting people’s lives in many ways. To ensure the spread of technology knowledge among students, higher education institutions around the world are emphasizing on developing necessary infrastructure along with curriculum changes. Quality assurance and accreditation are becoming increasingly important in the higher education sector. However, the history of social transformation should be given importance in formulating and implementing proper plans in these cases.
Besides, in the meeting, Bauhaus University was invited to provide cooperation to the universities of Bangladesh in the development of nano technology, artificial intelligence and bio materials.