Dr. Syed Ferhat Anwar, President, Asia Marketing Federation, Professor at Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka;

As we dwell into the global uncertainties in post-pandemic and the present political and financial crises, it is essential that the aspirations of the citizens of Bangladesh are not lost during this unpredictable turmoil. One of the foremost roles must be played by academia, and their mindset must be geared to meet the future. At the tertiary level, the university must focus on the creation of human capital, which will cater to the demands of the long-term vision of the country and be linked to the global agenda (especially Asia) to uphold the national brand image. Thus, it must focus on the national as well as global socio-economic perspective (GLOCAL), ensuring balanced use of human capital and closely knitted to both the public and private sector growth map. However, the global agenda must not displace the national agenda. The primary purpose of the universities should be to set a learning platform by taking the risk of initiating new ventures through in-depth research and industry interaction.

1. Bangladesh and Global Shift

Any strategy requires an in-depth analysis of the changes that are likely to take place and orchestrate the strategy based on the expected changes. Thus prior to designing a strategic direction, it is essential to discuss the future anticipated changes.

Outlook into the Future: Figure 1 below depicts the outflow of graduates in the next couple of decades and the link they are likely to have with the present-day academic pursuit and learning from faculty members. It is evident that until and unless the universities are connected to the future agenda, it will be very difficult to attain the goals of the country and the global or Asian obligations. This evidently puts emphasis upon the necessity to shift from the present-day learning model as well as the content. In addition, it is also evident that the current mindset of the universities may not be exhaustive enough to harness the responsibility of creating a university which will act as the leader in academic pursuit.

With the evolution of societal structure and practices and more so with greater global interaction, because of the minimisation of the global divide, the future of society must be looked at from the changes that have occurred and are expected to get further standardised in the immediate future. It is evident that this shift is moving at the pace of a tsunami (Fig 2), and therefore, it will be very difficult for the academic institutions of today to adjust to the vicissitudes if they are not dynamic in their approach. It is also extremely important to note that the tsunami will result in the loss of the demographic dividend that Bangladesh enjoys by 2040 at the most. Thus, competition is going to be much stiffer, and universities must ensure a distinguishing position to be able to build a leading brand.

Illustration 1 below depicts the milestones the Bangladesh government has set up for the year 2100. This is very much in line with the human capital output figure depicted in Figure 1. It is obvious that in attaining the goals set by the state, the universities will have to bring substantial changes within their curriculum as well as pedagogy and mindset. Thus, a focused intervention is not just evident but, in fact, essential to achieve the desired set of milestones.

 

It is apparent that since this is the century for Asia (Figure 3), and even more important, under the prevailing economic and political crises where nations such as Bangladesh must take firm decisions and form partnerships based on both prospective markets as well as supply chain; any strategic plan must focus on Asia.

It must be stressed that Bangladesh, amongst South Asian nations, is well poised both in terms of economic prospects as well as in terms of geographical location to take leadership in certain specific areas. Thus, the importance of human capital for shouldering responsibility is indispensable.

1. The Resolve of Higher Education

The basic intent of higher education in a global context is outlined by the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which came into force in 1976 and declared under the “Right to Free Education” in article 13 as

“Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.”

The strategic plan for higher education in Bangladesh: 2018-2030 of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh outlines the objective of the plan as

“To improve the quality and relevance of teaching and research environment in higher education institutions through encouraging both innovations and accountability within universities and by enhancing the technical and institutional capacity of the higher education sector.”

Further to the above, the vision of higher education has been set in line with the vision of “Digital Bangladesh”, and states,

“Our universities should be true centers of excellence where, along with acquiring knowledge, skills and competencies of the highest level, students will practice democratic norms and cultural values and will be conversant with economic development issues.”

1. The Core Essence of Tertiary Education

For the academic institutions to take a leapfrog growth, joint ventures or partnerships with individuals (preferably diaspora) and GLOCAL universities must be undertaken not just at the individual faculty level but at the institutional level. In addition, students having the right acumen should be selected to be research scholars and trained to pursue higher education in partner institutions. Creation and Dissemination of knowledge will require areas of focus depicted in Figure 4 below under the STEAM framework.

It is evident that education, in general, must have 360-degree coverage focusing on five distinct areas, which we may call STEAM. The specific coverage of each will be as follows.

1. Science with a focus on biological, health, agricultural, and physical sciences, with logical reasoning and promoting scientific literacy.
2. Technology with a focus on productivity and embedding mathematics and algorithm to gather, access, analyse, present and transmit information. Ensure engineering mindset and also focus on re-engineering and pursuit of technology beyond the fourth industrial revolution.
3. Environment with the purpose of protection and sustenance of the planet using circular, green, and blue economy, in all processes and focus on public utility, infrastructure, and welfare programs to duly tackle all sorts of disruptions.
4. Arts to foster emotional intelligence and pluralistic and liberal mindset to strengthen social, cultural, sports, creativity, inclusivity, and governance. Embed knowledge of social sciences and liberal arts to create and embed a pluralistic society and boost self-confidence.
5. Management to ensure macro and micro level entrepreneurial, managerial, business, administrative and economic efficiency and equip technology-driven tools for the wellbeing of humanity.

It requires mention that the areas outlined under the STEAM model are developed based on the milestone outlined earlier and the present growth trend of various industries. However, one must also bear in mind that exclusivity will only entail if certain specific local dimensions are embedded that will result in a unique and exclusive subject that may have a global interest. Thus, the system must be equipped to undertake a change in real time. This will require blended learning in terms of pedagogy, and a system must be designed for online to offline (O2O) adjustment. The aim should be to produce experts who will also prove to be responsible citizens. The core value driving tertiary education can be summarised as a) nurturing academic freedom, wisdom, and creation; b) Promoting innovation and application of knowledge; c) inculcating leadership, professionalism, and GLOCAL thinking; d) cultivating integrity and equity; d) practising social responsibility, accountability, and governance; and last but not the least e) valuing patriotism and cultural heritage.

1. Education for Sustainability as Bottomline

The above discussion ultimately must be measured in terms of sustainable outcomes. To maximise value through sustainability, the academic pursuit must follow the bottom-line measures outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals. The bottom line outlines how each discipline will be measured in terms of the outcome. For any academic pursuit, the various disciplines must focus on these outcomes through inculcating these skills as value-added skills in each of the members of faculty, administration, and of course, students. Figure 5 below outlines a slightly modified classification of the bottom line by each of the Sustainable Development Goals.