NU to upskill teachers at nearly 2,500 affiliated colleges
National University (NU) will launch a programme focused on upgrading the skills and standards of teachers at nearly 2,500 affiliated colleges.
This initiative, which includes accounting faculty training and divisional-level workshops, was announced by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr A S M Amanullah. NU also plans to introduce robust, standards-based audits to strengthen governance and transparency across affiliated institutions, for which the VC sought support from the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB).
Speaking as the chief guest at the 4th Accounting Educators' Conference at the ICMAB building in Nilkhet on Friday, Professor Amanullah said Bangladesh faces a shortage of skilled manpower largely because education has not received sufficient investment.
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He observed that, since independence, infrastructure had been prioritised over human capital development. As a result, while Bangladesh made notable progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it has struggled to achieve comparable success on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The VC noted that at least one million students graduate from NU each year, yet around 40% do not secure jobs—a gap he attributed to outdated syllabuses. NU is therefore overhauling curricula and emphasising information technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), and multi-language learning to prepare students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In the opening session, ICMAB President Mahtab Uddin Ahmed warned that although the economy has grown, the accounting profession has not expanded at the same pace, creating opportunities for corruption. He called for more trained professionals and for practitioners to uphold strong ethical standards.
Among others, Conference Governor Jamal Ahmed Chowdhury, ICMAB Education Committee Chairman Md Kawsar Alam, and ICMAB academic adviser Dr Nikhil Chandra Shil addressed the event. The day-long conference drew accounting educators and professionals from across the country.
