Addressing the Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of various universities, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon said, 'I am the Education Minister, I am the government for you.'
The education minister said there is a plan to start the new academic year from next January.
He made the remarks while addressing vice chancellors at a workshop on Sunday marking the World Intellectual Property Day at the auditorium of the University Grants Commission at Agargaon.
Referring to the country's expanding higher education sector, the minister said there are now 57 public universities and questioned whether new institutions should be established merely to create posts and secure political support, rather than as centres of academic excellence.
"Universities should not just be made a means of awarding degrees but should be developed as centres of excellence. At the same time, special importance should be given to research," he pointed out.
Inviting policy input from university leadership, he added, "I want the proposals on how our integrated universities can be further developed to come from you. We are trying."
Addressing the vice chancellors directly, the minister said, "If you want development, I will be with you. I am the Education Minister, I am the government for you, right?"
On the issue of session backlogs linked to the Higher Secondary Certificate level, he said that a coordinated effort by education boards and universities was under way to complete the two year course within schedule and conclude examinations by December.
"We want to start the new academic year from January, so that there is no waiting time," he said.
The minister also expressed concern over what he described as declining research orientation among sections of the younger generation and the adverse effects of social media driven behaviour.
He said, "The youth of the current generation are like instant coffee; they make instant comments and react instantly. They do not want to analyse deeply, nor do they want to understand."
He questioned how innovation and research could advance if young people prioritised immediate reaction over critical inquiry, and warned that a culture driven by social media visibility and "viral" attention could have wider moral and educational consequences.
Referring to intellectual property rights, he said Bangladesh remains behind in the international intellectual property regime and that many domestic innovations and creative works fail to receive due recognition because of administrative shortcomings.
The education minister added that a stronger institutional framework was needed to safeguard research outputs, protect innovators and ensure that national interests are preserved in matters relating to patents, trademarks and intellectual property protection.
