Abstract
Higher education (HE) in Bangladesh has experienced phenomenal growth over the years in terms of student enrollment, subjects taught, female enrollment, and growth in the number of universities. A paradigm shift also took place in 1992 when private entities were allowed to establish and operate universities. Currently there are 105 private universities enrolling more students than the public universities. The most popular choices for students of public universities are Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences, whereas Business Administration and Engineering and Technology are the disciplines that are in greater demand in relation to private universities. With less than 0.2% of the GDP being allocated for higher education until 2017, no Bangladeshi university has managed to find a place even in the Asia University Ranking 2019 of the Times Higher Education (THE). The present chapter provides an overview of these various aspects of higher education in Bangladesh. It also goes on to outline the salient features of the “Strategic Plan for Higher Education 2018–2030” that the government of Bangladesh has introduced for ensuring overall improvement of the HE sector.
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Chowdhury, M.H., Absar, M.M.N., Quader, S.M. (2020). Challenges and Developments in the Higher Education System of Bangladesh. In: Sarangapani, P., Pappu, R. (eds) Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia. Global Education Systems. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3309-5_57-1
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