Analysis of the Examination system of Daffodil International University

Abstract

The education which is offered usually in the universities is called higher education. It is also known as tertiary education. There are two categories of educational institutions in Bangladesh who offer higher education; the public and private universities and colleges affiliated with the National University (NU). At present, there are 40 public universities while there were only 4 public universities in 1971. Moreover, there are more than 95 private universities which are a relatively new phenomenon in our country. There are around 1,400 higher education providing colleges also. The emergence of private universities was prompted by several factors of which two are most important. (1) The demand for higher education increased much faster than the public university system could cope with; and (2) scarcity of public fund and other resources i.e. the government could not mobilize the required infrastructures, and financial and human resources to match the rapidly increasing demand. With continuous widening of the gap between the supply of and demand for higher education the private entrepreneurs, philanthropists and social leaders found new opportunities to serve the society by establishing private universities. On the other hand, the government realized that without public-private partnership the rapidly increasing demand for higher education could not be met. The government enacted the Private Universities Act 1992 (subsequently replaced by Private University Act 2010) to provide a legal framework for the establishment of private universities with the assumption that these universities would supplement the government efforts to meet the demand for higher education. Under this Act any private individual or group of individuals and philanthropic organizations (Trusts or Foundations) can establish and run a degree-awarding self-financed university by fulfilling certain conditions mentioned in the Private University Act. Response from the private sector was encouraging. Within a short period of time, private sector emerged as an additional and successful provider of higher education. It is to be noted that the operation of the private universities was encouraged not to replace public universities but to work side by side with the public universities. It was recognized rightly that to meet the national demand both public and private universities must coexist to cooperate and compete to provide high quality higher education. The private universities in general follow the American education system, that is, a four-year first degree program consisting of 12 Semesters. With the success of the first university many other philanthropists came forward to establish universities. Within a short time the number of private universities crossed the number of public universities. According to an unofficial estimate, currently, about 175000 and 200000 students are studying at public and private universities respectively. The largest university claims to have more than 18,000 students enrolled. Therefore in almost all private universities Business School has the largest enrolment followed by ICT related subjects. Very few universities offer degrees in subjects that are socially desirable like Philosophy, Sociology, Bangla etc.