History & Importance Of Engineering Education In Bangladesh

Being one of the most populated countries globally, the education system of Bangladesh is struggling a bit. The literacy rate is not so impressive. That is why the government is focusing more on primary education since its independence in 1971. Engineering education in Bangladesh was started many years ago.

There are plenty of public universities, private universities, and some international universities offering engineering education in Bangladesh after getting a good result in HSC. And definitely, the student has to be in the science department in both SSC and HSC to study in engineering universities.

Here in this article, I’ll try to go into the depth of Engineering Education in Bangladesh. From where it was started to where it is now and what to change, all will be given in this article. Please read this article from the beginning to the end part to know more about Engineering Education in Bangladesh.

History of Engineering Education In Bangladesh

Engineering education was started in Bangladesh in 1876 during the British colonial period. It was almost 145 years ago. The name of the Engineering institute in Bangladesh was Dhaka Survey School. After gaining independence from the British, the Dhaka Survey School was renamed Ahsanullah Engineering College.

In 1962, it was further upgraded to a university under East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology. Later it was renamed the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) after getting independence from West Pakistan in 1971.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is the oldest engineering university in Bangladesh. And it is one of the most popular and highly competitive engineering colleges in Bangladesh right now. Although this university is still not yet recognized as a world-class engineering university. This university can not compete with the top engineering university in the world right now. But still, the demand for this university in the country and the world is much high.

Public and Private Engineering Universities

Public universities are institutes that the government runs. And the private university is run by entrepreneurs, donors, and student fees. There are some international universities too which are run by some international foundations and hosted by the government. Some public universities offering Engineering education are BUET, CUET, KUET, RUET, DU, SUST, etc.

Some private universities offering engineering education are NSU, IUB, AIUB, AUST, etc. The competition level the public engineering universities is extremely high, especially in BUET and DU. The best students in the country get a chance to these universities after giving admission after passing HSC. Even students need to get a good result in both SSC and HSC to fill the form of BUET.

Engineering Education in Bangladesh

Right after getting independence from Pakistan. There were only five engineering fields in Bangladesh. Which are. Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Metallurgical Engineering.

And after that, the field of engineering education in Bangladesh was increased rapidly. Especially in the time of computer science. The next 50 years of getting independence saw some of the new fields in engineering education. Those are:

• Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
• EEE
• Industrial and Production Engineering,
• Naval Engineering,
• Water Resources Engineering,
• Glass and Ceramics Engineering,
• Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering,
• Biomedical Engineering,
• Mining Engineering, Genetic
• Engineering and Biotechnology,
• Textile Engineering,
• Leather Engineering
• Environmental Engineering.

These fields were added with the first five engineering fields since independence. And the number of engineering fields will increase more in the future as the job sector is changing day by day. No one thought about CSE five decades ago, and this is one of the most demanding engineering fields right now.

And the entrepreneurs are saying that new fields are yet to come as the world is changing rapidly with ICT. And engineering fields played a vital role in taking ICT to a very new level.

Importance Of Engineering Education In Bangladesh

The importance of having a quality engineering education is really high. To develop the infrastructure of a country, the generation must be well educated. Engineering education opens a door for a generation that can develop the whole country’s system.

Including infrastructure to programming, the country needs quality engineers. And the universities must provide updated education facilities that ensure a better engineering education system, just like MIT, one of the most popular engineering universities in the world.

The education field is changing, and the engineering education field should be changed according to the world’s needs. Bangladesh should go out from the traditional education system and should add more facilities so the student can compete with the world-class engineering universities.

And more quality engineering universities should be established because the population is so high and the competition level is also at the extreme. The government should be focusing more on engineering education now. This is high time to do so.