Foreign students under scanner in Bangladesh

Foreign students under scanner in Bangladesh
by -
Narinjara

Foreign students who are pursuing studies in Bangladesh are under vigil. The students from Burma (Myanmar) are also being closely watched by the Bangladesh authority, said a report of New Age, a progressive English daily newspaper published from Dhaka.

university-of-bangladeshIn Bangladesh, there are about 3,500 foreign students, as of December 31, 2012, in various educational institutions under the public and private universities, revealed the report on the June 9 issue of the newspaper.

Most of the students, who have enrolled in various Bangladesh based educational institutions, hail from India, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Yemen, Ghana, Palestine, Canada, Jordan, Australia and the United States of America. There are reportedly few foreign students and teachers in some unregistered qoumi madrassas of Bangladesh.

Among the foreign students most are pursuing various technical courses in the University of Science and Technology-Chittagong, the International Islamic University of Chittagong, the Asian University of Bangladesh- Dhaka, the International University and American International University of Bangladesh etc.

Quoting the home ministry sources, the report also added that there are all together 34 public and 72 private universities in Bangladesh. Besides that there is an international university in Gazipur which is funded by OIC and another one is Asian University for Women in Chittagong in south Bangladesh.

The report, while quoting an official of Bangladesh education ministry, said that many students from Myanmar are now studying in the controversial Darul Ihsan University. The students from Myanmar normally do not stay in Bangladesh permanently.

So the concerned Bangladesh authority have started scanning the visa details of the foreign students, who have enrolled their names in various public and private universities of Bangladesh. The authority has also kept a close watch on the movement of foreign students inside the country.

Earlier in 2009, the Bangladesh education ministry was approached to cancel the approval of a Chittagong-based private university following the information that the said university was receiving foreign funds for some political purposes. The intelligence department revealed that the university got nearly Taka 100 crore from three Middle East nations including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile the Bangladesh home ministry, in a letter last week to the education ministry officials, asked to order all the heads of educational institutions in Bangladesh to organize anti-militancy rallies, discussions and other motivational activities. Accordingly the ministry forwarded the order to all educational institutions for prompt implementation of the order.