Quality assurance for private universities in Bangladesh A quest for specialised institutional governance, management and regulatory mechanism

Purpose Commitment of governments and development partners in achieving both qualitative and quantitative measurements for primary and secondary provisions is the key reason for the development of private higher education (HE) and its rapid expansion in the developing world. A considerable amount of attention towards primary and secondary provisions has produced a large numbers of graduates who are theoretically qualified, but have questionable competences in meeting the needs of the market. This has a significant impact on the quality of HE which is delivered by private and public provisions. The purpose of this paper is to examine quality assurance (QA) mechanism set-up for the private HE sector in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative methods were used because interviewees can express their views in a candid way, with a primary focus on the desired themes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with personnel from the Ministry of Education, the University Grants Commission, students, staff and management from public and private universities. Documents review and secondary data also supplemented. Findings The mechanism set-up for QA is yet to mature. Formal arrangements for the governance and regulatory control of private HE provision in Bangladesh are neither sufficient nor up-to-date to help the sector function effectively. The current rules and regulations are suitable only for public HE, but not for the private sector HE. Originality/value A number of studies have been conducted in the area of private HE in Bangladesh. Only one of them covers QA, and none covers the impact of governance on QA. In the light of this background, this paper is the first of its kind.