APUB expresses condolences over death of Khaleda Zia
Leaders of the Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) have expressed deep sorrow and condolences at the passing of Begum Khaleda Zia, three-time former prime minister of Bangladesh and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
An eight-member APUB delegation, led by Md Sabur Khan, President of APUB, and Ishtiaque Abedin, Secretary General, met Tarique Rahman, BNP Chairperson, at his Gulshan office on 18 January. During the meeting, the delegation recalled Begum Khaleda Zia's contributions to the development of higher education in Bangladesh.
Under her leadership, a landmark policy decision was adopted in the National Parliament in 1992 to allow the establishment of private universities for the first time in the country, ushering in a transformative phase in Bangladesh's higher education system. APUB leaders said the policy paved the way for hundreds of thousands of students to pursue higher education under internationally recognised curricula, contributing to human resource development, employment generation and global connectivity.
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During the hour-long discussion, participants exchanged views on the current state of higher education in Bangladesh, the role of private universities, existing challenges and future prospects of the sector.
Tarique Rahman highlighted content creation, freelancing and online trading as emerging sources of foreign currency earnings for educated youth, professionals and entrepreneurs. He also mentioned plans to establish modern hi-tech cities to support and facilitate such activities.
Others present at the meeting included Salahuddin Ahmed, BNP Standing Committee Member; KBM Moin Uddin Chishti, APUB Vice Chairman; Aziz Al Kaiser, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of North South University; Tamara Hasan Abed, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of BRAC University; MA Kashem, Member of the Board of Trustees of North South University; and Javed Hossain, Member of the Board of Trustees of Independent University, Bangladesh.
