Ashraf Dewan

Reform conversations about universities in Bangladesh tend to break down at the same point. Someone identifies a real problem.

Unplanned urbanisation is destroying Dhaka's waterbodies, escalating flood risks, intensifying heat, and threatening long-term climate resilience.

Bangladesh does not necessarily need to invest more in university research. It needs to spend what it already has as if research were meant to generate tangible outcomes.

When it comes to higher education, Bangladesh does not have a funding problem; what it has, instead, is an accountability problem.

Over three decades since arsenic in groundwater was identified as a national danger, millions of people are still drinking unsafe water.

Bangladesh has long recognised the value of acquiring advanced training abroad. Over the years, public funds have supported postgraduate study and research through a number of government-backed schemes, including science fellowships and overseas scholarships for university teachers.

For thousands of years, the delta of Bengal has been defined by its intricate relationship with water. This was never a purely natural phenomenon;