University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh Chairman Professor Abdul Mannan presented two papers on the status of Higher Education in Bangladesh in two International Conferences recently held in New Delhi.

The first conference on ‘Employment and Employability of Higher Education Graduates’ held at the India Habitat Centre was jointly organized by Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and the British Council and was attended by participants from eleven countries.

Professor Mannan in his paper highlighted the achievements in higher education in Bangladesh in last one decade, women in tertiary level and professional education and the role of the UGC in improving the quality of higher education of Bangladesh. He also highlighted the achievements of the just concluded Higher Education Quality Enhancement (HEQEP) project of the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank which was executed by the UGC and said this is for the first time in Bangladesh a project of such a nature ended with ‘Highly Satisfactory’ rating by the World Bank.

The second conference was organized by the Delhi based South Asian University (SAARC University).  The Bangladesh UGC Chairman was invited to speak in the Distinguished Lecture Series this year. Held at the University’s New Delhi Campus the theme of Professor Mannan’s lecture was ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the new generation of the SAARC countries’. Held at the University auditorium the event was chaired by Dr. Kavita A Sharma, the President of the University and was attended by the faculty members and the students from SAARC countries studying in the university.

Professor Mannan in his paper highlighted the importance of continuous updating of skills necessary to face the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and said the huge availability of young population in the region was the real resource of the country provided they can be transformed into human resources by giving them the space for continuous development of their skills and knowledge. He said UGC have already prioritized blending skills with the traditional curriculum in the universities of the country to produce graduates that are employable and also become entrepreneurs.