Quality higher education in any country, particularly in emerging developing country like Bangladesh is absolutely vital for developing knowledge and skills of its young generation so that they can contribute significantly to the development, progress and prosperity of the country. It was presumed that access to higher education may be substantially broadened without imposing too much financial burden on government budget if private sector is allowed to operate in the field of higher education. It has been realized that every year a large number of students aspiring for admission in the public universities are deprived of higher education due to limitations of available seats. At this backdrop the Private University Act was passed in 1992 with a view to supplementing the public universities in promoting higher education.
It is my great pleasure to say a few words about Varendra University, the first ever government approved private university in the northern region of the country. Varendra University has started its academic journey in September 2012 when the orientation of the first batch of students took place through a colorful ceremony graced by the presence of the Chairman, University Grants Commission(UGC), Prof, A.K. Azad Chowdhury, Member UGC Prof. A.H.Shibly, Vice-Chancellor, RU, senior faculty of Rajshahi University, RUET, elite of Rajshahi city and distinguished guests. It appeared to be a very good start.
The main objective of Varendra University is to provide quality higher education to the students by experienced and reputed academics in order to produce skilled human resources needed for the social and economic development of Bangladesh. Right from the beginning the university is trying to design a curriculum of an international standard and using the latest participatory interactive and Ô learning by doing’ approaches to teaching and learning with the help of latest educational technology. The university is also using the recent approaches to reliable and valid grading system.
I am impressed to see that the university has state of the art laboratories, high standard classroom facilities and good teacher-student rapport. I am sure these will help to transform its graduates into skilled manpower of an international standard. I sincerely hope that the existing friendly and congenial academic environment of the university will be strengthened further in future and the teacher-student relationship will enter into a new dimension. I believe this new university will successfully cater for the needs of the higher education and fulfill the long-felt desire of the people in this part of the country. I will be happy to see this institute grow as a prestigious seat of learning in the future.
Professor Dr. M. Sayeedur Rahman Khan
Adviser, Varendra University
Former Vice Chancellor
Rajshahi University
&
Former High Commissioner of Bangladesh to UK