Bangladesh needs stronger industry-academia linkage to build education hub: Milon

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has stressed the need for stronger industry-academia collaboration in Bangladesh, saying major companies and industries do not pay enough attention to developing links with educational institutions.

"It is very unfortunate that big companies and industries in our country do not give importance to industry-academia linkage," he said while speaking as the chief guest at the "MGI-MAA Scholarship 2026" distribution ceremony at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of Dhaka University this morning (23 September).

"But I have seen in China that their institutes have been established within industries. Engineers from industries go there and interact with students, while teachers from outside come to teach them. This is a linkage," the minister said.

Milon said industries in China train and teach students and recruit them directly, creating a strong connection between education and employment.

Referring to Bangladesh's education sector, he recalled that students from Malaysia used to study at Dhaka University's International Hostel in the 1980s.

"At that time, President Ziaur Rahman was talking about 'reverse brain drain'. He said our professors working in the US and the Western world could come here during their vacations and teach postgraduate classes," he said.

He said Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had pursued a similar programme successfully, turning Malaysia into an education hub.

"Today Malaysia is an education hub, while we are sending our students to Malaysia," he said.

Milon said Bangladesh had yet to amend the Private University Act 1992 to accommodate cross-border education, but the government was working on a plan to turn Bangladesh into an education hub.

"We are working on it. We have a plan — we will also make Bangladesh an education hub," he said.

'Work satisfaction is important'

The education minister also spoke about career choices and job satisfaction, saying people should be content with the work they choose to do.

"We have seen people who became professors and vice-chancellors saying that they might have been better off if they had been presidents of student organisations," he said.

"If that is what they wanted to do, they should have gone there, shouldn't they? This is the defect - I force myself to do something I do not actually want to do," he said.

He stressed the importance of finding satisfaction in one's work, saying what others have achieved is less important than being satisfied with the work one is doing.

Education budget

Milon said the government had planned to make the education ministry one of its highest-priority ministries under the prime minister's leadership.

"This year, we received the highest budget allocation. And this will continue up to 5% of GDP," he said, adding that the education sector had received Tk1.36 lakh crore this year.

The minister also recalled a recent visit to the MBA department of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), saying he was impressed by the way modern technology was being incorporated into teaching.

"I was completely stunned. They are teaching through smart projects. I thought, what did I study for my MBA and what is happening now! It is quite different," he said.

He said students returning from overseas education would bring new knowledge and approaches to teaching in Bangladesh.

The scholarship programme was jointly organised by the Dhaka University Marketing Department Alumni Association and Meghna Group of Industries.

A total of 90 meritorious students from different batches of the Marketing Department received scholarships of Tk24,000 each, amounting to Tk21.60 lakh in total.