Education In Bangaldesh/ Education System in Bangaldesh.

Chapter-1

1.1 Introduction:

Education, as we all know, is a key to development, for a nation as well as for an individual. Higher education is indispensable for development to a higher level. By the term higher education, in Bangladesh we normally understand education at the tertiary level beyond the higher secondary level. It would therefore include education provided in the universities and under-graduate and postgraduate colleges.

Many scholarly essays, books and treaties have been written in the area of knowledge, education and learning within the context of a university. The continuing debate about the role of a university is rich and revealing. For example, V.H.H in his book named ‘The Universities’ said, “the Universities were undoubtedly one of most significant creation of medieval world. Their Graduates helped to shape its thoughts to create a mode of intellectual discipline, to lay the foundation for a scientific culture, to interpret its laws and its customs and to administer it governments”. Another educationist named Robert Wolf in his book The Ideal of the University discussed four models for ideal university: (a) the university as a sanctuary of scholarship, (b) the university as a training camp for professions, (c) the university as a social service centre, and (d) the university as an assembly line for established ‘men and women’.

The main function of the university is to create knowledge and to disseminate knowledge. Within the context of a university all activities in which the faculty and students engage themselves are expected to create and disseminate knowledge. The university bears the responsibility of moving the society forward by addressing the pressing problems for the society and producing the positive thinkers, business and political leaders and intelligent workers. In this age of globalisation, technological advancement and competition, there is no alternative to the creation of a knowledgebase society which is only possible through universities of very high quality.

There is a fair consensus that a system of higher education is of strategic importance in national development of any country. For The challenge, therefore, is to come up with governance systems which can ensure quality education at a reasonable cost, (both time wise and money wise) . The fundamental purpose of higher education, which is to create knowledge and produce enlightened and skilled human resources, must be satisfied.

1.2 History of higher education in Bangladesh:

Higher education in the modern concept began in the Bangladesh region with the establishment of the University of Calcutta in1857 and especially the University of Dhaka in 1921. However, higher education of an international character had much older history, in the form of the Buddhist monasteries of Pundranagar (now Mohasthan), Paharpur and Mainamati some 2000-1400 years ago.

We also know that one of the first universities of the world, Nalanda, was located not far from Bangladesh and that the Acharya of Nalanda was a Bangali, named Shilabhadra, in the 7^th century. We in Bangladesh today, therefore, are proud inheritors of a great tradition of higher education or university. There has, however, been a discontinuity in that tradition.

The establishment of the University of Dhaka in 1921 had a profound impact on the development of education in Bangladesh (East Bengal) during the British period, especially for the Muslims who had unfortunately fallen behind their Hindu compatriots.

Dhaka remained the only university in the region for the rest of the British period. Five more universities were however established during the Pakistan period, between 1953 and 1970. They were all in the public sector. Since the liberation of the country, there has been a remarkable growth in both the number of universities and in the number of university students. A new development in university education has been the establishment of private universities since 1992.

Chapter-2

2.1 Higher education today:

At present there are 32 public universities in the country, the setting up of a new university at Gopalganj, has also been approved, thus raising the number of public universities to 33. There are currently as many as 51 private universities in the country, most of which were very hurriedly and carelessly approved and established during the last regime. Although some of these universities have already achieved a fairly large student population; only a few of the older ones can claim quality. Among the functioning 29 public universities, 28 are campus based, while the National University (NU) is an affiliated university, with over 1876 colleges located all over the country.

The Bangladesh Open University (BOU) based on the Distance Learning mode also has a country-wide coverage through its Regional Resource Centres and Branches.

The 28 campus-based public universities together had 153,249 students in 2008, while the NU had 855,744 and the BOU 232,353 students.

Enrolment trend and demand for higher education:

Enrolment is one of the major indicators of determining demand for education. There are nearly eighteen hundred and seventy six (1876) degree colleges in the country. A large number of students of these colleges study humanities or liberal arts subjects. Data from UGC Annual Report source show that nearly 64% of the students appearing in degree examination in 2007 were from arts and humanities group. Only a small number of 13% and 18% appeared in science and commerce subjects respectively (UGC:2007).

Enrolment pattern in four general universities shows a slight change in student’s choice of study areas. It may be observed from Table-1 that nearly one-fourth of the total students were enrolled in liberal arts courses at honours and masters level during the year 2005-2006. In these universities the number of students studying science and technical subjects was the highest among all areas of studies.

Other areas of studies in order of preference were social science, commerce and law (BANBEIS:2006).

There is sex-wise difference in selection of areas of studies. The priority area of enrolment for male students was science, while for female it was liberal arts and social science. The technical and professional universities and a small number of technical and professional institutions offer courses in various areas of technical and professional education.

The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) enrolled 5,377 students during the session 2005-2006 (Table-3). Among all departments, civil engineering enrolled the largest number of students. Other departments in priority order of enrolment were electrical and mechanical engineering and architecture (BBS: 2006).

Out of the total enrolment only 14.38% of the students of BUET were female and most of them were enrolled in civil engineering and architecture, while majority of the male students were enrolled in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering.

In Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU), 3,258 students were enrolled in the session of 2005-2006 and the largest number of them were in the faculty of agriculture (Table-3). In this university only (21.35%) of students were female and out of this number many of them were enrolled in the faculty of agriculture. (UGC:2007).

Chapter - 3

3.1 Imbalance in enrolment on Higher Education :

The enrolment pattern in degree colleges and general universities as discussed above shows the predominance of liberal arts. The causes of this may be traced back in the second level of education. In many of the secondary schools, particularly those located in rural areas, there is a shortage of qualified and trained teachers of Science, English and Mathematics. Most of the schools do not have well-equipped laboratories. This situation compels many boys and girls to study humanities at the secondary level. Therefore, we lose a good number of prospective students who could have demonstrated their aptitude to study in science and technical subjects in higher education.

Enrolment in higher education reflects interdisciplinary imbalance in favour of humanities, social sciences and general science whereas agricultural science and other technical areas which are related to the critical need of economic development have small number of students. One consequence of this is high incidence of unemployment among many of the graduates in liberal arts and general subjects. Ultimately it affects gradual development of the nation (Blaugh: 1993). To rectify this there is need for desired shift to science and technology which have to be built on a similar shift in the second level of education. But how to make such a shift successful? Higher education is expensive in terms of public sector investment. Per student recurring cost in higher education is very high. But science and technological education costs more resource than education in general universities. Therefore, the pace of progress towards a better balance will also be dependent on the availability of the required financial resources. Again resource investment in education without simultaneous national planning to absorb them in their respective occupation will cause surplus output in these areas which will prove more costly in terms of financial resource than a comparable surplus in liberal arts or social science. (Niblett: 1990).

Annually a huge number of students pass the HSC examination. The number of successful candidates in this examination generally exceedsn two lakhs (BANBEIS:2006). Out of them quite a large number seek admission in the institutions of higher education. In spite of limited capacity there was expansion of enrolment at the higher level of education in recent years. The existing trend of large number of candidates seeking admission for higher education and growth in enrolment imply that there is demand for higher education. Now it is the task of the planners, policy makers, the Government and the private bodies to devise alternative avenues so that the rising demand for higher education can be met through a variety of courses at various levels according to the choices and needs of the students. The establishment of 32 public and 51 private universities may address the problem of demand of higher education to some extent.

3.2 General overview of the Orange Revolution:

The Orange Revolution was the culmination of the 2004 October–November Presidential elections in Ukraine. The main candidates were Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych, who had been the Ukrainian prime minister since 2002, was backed by the incumbent Ukrainian President, Leonid Kuchma, as well as by Russia and its then–president Vladimir Putin (Bilaniuk, 2005; Karatnycky, 2005). Yushchenko, leader of the “Our Ukraine” oppositional faction in the Ukrainian parliament and a former Prime Minister (1999–2001), was considered a more pro–Western politician.

The first round of the 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine was held on 31 October 2004. It resulted in a small lead for Yushchenko, with 39.87 percent of the votes compared to Yanukovych’s 39.32 percent. Since neither candidate got a 50 percent majority, the second round of the election was scheduled for 21 November, after which the Central Election Commission proclaimed Yanukovych the winner, with 49.42 percent of the votes compared to Yushchenko’s 46.69 percent. The pro–Yushchenko forces and a majority of international observers claimed that the elections were falsified. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced that the election did not meet international standards (OSCE, 2004), and U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, who acted as the senior election observer, even called it “a concerted and forceful program of election day fraud.” (Kuzio, 2004) This fraud caused widespread acts of civil disobedience through the whole country (the period of time usually considered “the” Orange Revolution), and eventually the Supreme Court of Ukraine scheduled a repeat vote on 26 December 2004. Yushchenko won with almost 52 percent, compared to Yanukovych’s 44 percent (all the above vote–related numbers are available at the Web site of Ukrainian Central Election Commission at Yanukovych refused to accept this result, but on 10 January 2005, the Supreme Court declared Yushchenko the winner (Ligostova, 2005).

Chapter - 4

4.1 Problems in higher education:

There are many problems in higher education in Bangladesh. We will touch upon some of the major areas.

Access: The growth of enrolment at the secondary level and large number of outputs from HSC examination put a pressure for admission in the higher educational institutions. But due to limitation of capacity, annually thirty-five thousand successful HSC examinees may be enrolled in these institutions. In 2008, over 275,000 students passed H.S.C., but only less than 100,000 could be admitted in the universities and most among the rest got admitted into the National University colleges or dropped out. For the remaining vast number, the need is to open alternative choices such as vocational education, correspondence course, open university programmes, departmental training by employing agencies, and the like, in order to conserve resources and maintain the academic standard. This will involve a careful and detailed planning, a massive programme of technical and vocational education and a larger allocation of funds.

Quality: Assurance of quality, rather than scoring just quantity, is a critical issue in higher education. It is a general perception and a very widely circulated view that the quality of higher education (and for that   matter of education in general) in Bangladesh is low and that the standard has fallen over time. The benchmark of comparison may be international or even national when the temporal reference is considered. Quality of higher education is usually measured by employability of the products. The existing pattern of unemployment and under-employment of university graduates implies that the system is not working efficiently and effectively.

Parental emphasis on measuring higher education through results of examination as an indicator for qualitative excellence, inadequate relationship between research and classroom teaching, unsuitable educational environment, want of educational implements, unsatisfactory teacher-student ratios are actual impediments in the way of acquiring the right type of higher education.

The demand for higher education also affects the quality of education. Lack of wide avenues for studying varieties of subjects and opportunities for studying in various streams put a great pressure upon the universities and colleges. This pressure for admission along with existing inadequate facilities, resources, personnel, library, laboratory facilities and accommodation significantly affect the quality of higher education.

Governance: The greatest challenge to higher education in Bangladesh today is definitely in establishing the principles of good governance, which includes, authority, autonomy, transparency, accountability, participation, responsiveness, coordination, efficiency, capacity building, equity and sustainability. Satisfying demands of all these indicators is not at all easy, but efforts must be made to such an end.

The problems of governance are quite different in the public and private university systems, but it can summarily be said that most of the universities in either system suffer from the problems of misgovernance During the past, many public universities have been accused of serious administrative and financial irregularities, while many among the private universities have similarly been charged specially with lack of transparency, non-compliance of conditions set for them by UGC and the Ministry of Education.

The challenge, therefore, is to come up with governance systems which can ensure quality education at a reasonable cost, (both time wise and money-wise) . The fundamental purpose of higher education, which is to create knowledge and produce enlightened and skilled human resources, must be satisfied.

Relevance: One common criticism of higher education is that it is characterized by traditionalism without having any significant relevance to the national needs and problems of rural economy of the country. The output from seats of higher learning that could have made great impact on the economic life of the people by sparking off the green revolution is lacking.

The unemployment of huge products of education implies that it is not effective and relevant for their absorption in appropriate jobs. Higher education which consumes more money from public sector in per-student investment if not relevant is a total waste. So the present pattern of higher education needs to be rectified through national planning, manpower requirements and educational relevancy.

Efficiency: The efficiency of higher education is proved by the usability of their products and their contribution to society. The contribution to efficiency of education system is also of the researchers, personnel and scholars working in the institutions. (Blaugh: 1998).

The outputs of higher education is one criterion for measuring efficiency. There is a large number of failure, nearly 52% in the degree examination. In the honours and masters level the percentage of pass is much higher than degree level. But among the successful outputs only the able students hope to enter into the profession which require high academic competency and professional skills. Another weakness of higher education is that universities and colleges have no follow up records of their graduates. The data on unemployment of graduates of universities

and colleges which are currently available are scanty and sometimes contradictory. There is also lack of scientific tool for measuring efficiency (both of internal & external) of higher education.

Brain drain is another indicator of measuring efficiency of the education system. A large number of able students going abroad every year means that education system lacks adequate facilities for higher studies and research. In this way we lose many of the potential best products who could have greatly contributed to thedevelopment of economy and the society.

Curriculum reform:

Modernization of curriculum and syllabus in the light of new knowledge is one of the essential tasks of any education system. The curriculum of higher education, particularly, should be regularly updated so that it can incorporate the contributions of modern knowledge and research and make its standard acceptable to the outside world. There were curricular reforms in Bangladesh in the past but no radical reform was so far done.

There are bottlenecks in the way of curricular reform. The composition of university bodies, their mode of functioning together with present system of examination, the organizational set up of departments in universities and colleges vitiate rational consideration of any reform. In spite of such problems there were curricular reforms but those were not preceded by careful research and not followed by orientation of teachers or the provision of needed physical facilities.

But the restructuring of curriculum has become imperative in view of rapid change in the contemporary society. High priority has to be accorded to thorough revision and reorganization of the existing curricula and courses both at the first degree and the postgraduate level. The most important and urgent reform needed in education is to transform it so as that it becomes related to life, needs and aspirations of the people and serves as an instrument of socioeconomic development and the realization of national goals. For this purpose, work experience which would help to reduce the existing gap between the world of learning and the world of work should be introduced as an integral part of higher education. With

The challenge, therefore, is to come up with governance systems which can ensure quality education at a reasonable cost, (both time wise and money-wise) . The fundamental purpose of higher education, which is to create knowledge and produce enlightened and skilled human resources, must be satisfied.

Issues and trends:

Some emergent issues and trends of higher education deserve special attention in the context of future planning of education at this stage in present Bangladesh. The objective of higher education demands a closed door education policy for a small number of intellectually motivated students who aspire for academic excellence. While the current sociological and political forces make a compelling demand on the system to inflate it quantitatively without affecting any fundamental change in its aims. As a result the colleges and universities have expanded to accommodate a bulk of unmotivated and ill-prepared students.

Therefore, in the bid to achieve the quantitative target, the quality

of schooling has been substantially sacrificed. There is confusion over priorities and functions of higher education. The focus of education has shifted from cultural self-development to job accreditation. The dominant image of man now is of competition and exploitation. In such a climate of opinion, the important issue is identification, definition, protection of goals and values which make higher education an unique institution. The question of improving the quality of higher education has been examined by various committees and commissions and their recommendations are also endorsed by the Government. But implementation is difficult mainly due to obstacles in the existing institutions and attitudinal situation. Certainly it is comparatively, easy to achieve the quantitative target with the help of monetary investment, yet the desired qualitative changes so urgently needed are difficult to achieve without transforming the quality of man and environment.

The relation between educational activity and economic growth has

not been worked out efficiently either at the policy-making or at the implementation level. This is more truly represented in the economic growth rate and enrolment at the tertiary level. The economic growth rate is slightly over 5.5% while at higher education the growth rate of enrolment is nearly 7%. There has been naturally a constant increase in the number of educated unemployed and maladjustment between educational system and the socio-economic needs of the country. It is difficult for an economy with limited growth capacities to absorb the products of its system.

The unmanageable size of the higher educational institutions due to expansion of enrolment created management and administrative problems. Student population has increased ten times since 1972whereas the number of universities increased from 6 to 23 in thirty five years period. This imbalance has inevitably caused strain on the efficiency of the management and principle organization. Last but not the least, the vice of session jam to a great extent disrupts the academic life of the universities. The lengthening of academic life of the students beyond scheduled session consumes extra resources of the parents and the institutions. But the worst victim of the problem is the student community themselves. By the time they complete their studies, many of them become frustrated and lose vagour and energy. This also impairs their efficiency as worker. Besides, simultaneous operation of many sessions put great strain on the administration, management and facilities of the institution which ultimately affects the quality of higher education and community life of the students.

4.3 Study on quality of higher education in Public and Private Universities of Bangladesh:

Public universities are the main field of higher education in our country. As the public universities of Bangladesh failed to educate the increasing number of students private universities emerged. But most of the private universities are established on merely commercial thinking. Instead of offering quality education some private universities have become the vendor of certificate. So it is a matter of great thinking how our private universities can contribute positively to build an educated and skilled human resourceful society. In the same time failure of public universities should be identified and proper steps should be taken to remove it. 

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to review the quality higher education in Public and Private universities. If we can scan the problems for which most of our universities are not functioning towards the desired goals, then we can find out the remedies also. If our Universities work accordingly then we can have more and more skilled manpower. This term paper may also be helpful for further studies in this field. So, the main objectives are-

·         To scrutinize the problems existing is the public and private Universalities.

·         To identify the prospects of Public and private Universities.

·         To assess whether Public and private universities can ensure quality education.

·         Brief evaluation of the overall activities of the public and private universities.

·         To find out some recommendations.

Scope of the Study

Analyzing data collected from Secondary sources this term paper covers :

a.     The background of Public and Private universities in Bangladesh.

b.     Quality of Education in the public and private universities.

c.      Comparison between public and private universities.

d.     Recommendations.

Methodology

The methodology has been developed with a view to fulfill the objectives of the study. For this purpose I have collected data and information from various books, newspapers, magazines, internet websites and UGC annual report.

Working Definition

Public university is that university which is autonomous and run by the financial support of the government. Here private university means those universities which are established under the private universities Act-1992. Higher education in these public and private universities refers to the strengths and weaknesses, the problems and prospects and the realities surrounding these institutions of higher learning.

4.4 Improving quality of higher education in Bangladesh:

The private universities have their own system of preparing course curriculum. Since these are published in websites and occasionally checked by the University Grants Commission (UCG), the university authorities Endeavour to show the best in it. One should not wonder if the best type of curriculum of courses is prescribed by the worst type of private universities.

Education in BUET: In Bangladesh, BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) is said to maintain the highest standard of education in engineering subjects. All public and private universities teaching similar subjects feel safe to follow it. The two prime factors responsible for BUET's high standard are: i) It employs only the best students as teachers and ii) it accepts only the top quality students.

The third factor may be iii) tradition and iv) the unique system of dissemination of knowledge. BUET's long earned image and tradition maintains moral pressure on the teachers and students to uphold high standard. As for dissemination of knowledge, the teachers generally practice the followings: a) Only the difficult topics are explained in easy language, b) no class notes are given to the students and c) the entire course is never discussed in the class. Because of the last factor, the students are compelled to visit the libraries and consult books. To their good fortune BUET has got excellent libraries (central, departmental, rental and internet) to provide what the students need or want. In BUET some of the students prepare class notes in a presentable way, photocopy those for selling with the name "chotha." Even though it is a deviation, this practice could not lower the quality of education, because those never cover the full course. On the other hand, it helps those who could not take notes in the class for one reason or the other. Some deviations, however, are taking place for altogether different reasons. We shall explain one such deviation.

In view of the growth of many private universities offering engineering subjects, BUET teachers get good opportunities to teach there with fat remuneration. One departmental head was asked about the affect of this practice on the standard of education of BUET. In reply, he said that earlier the teachers used to rush to the class and give lectures. Now that they also go the private universities, as per rule, they need to prepare class notes for the students. Later, they use the same notes for BUET students and they are benefited.

This explanation is totally erroneous. The teachers teaching in private universities need to give notes such that the inferior quality students may pass. If the same practice is introduced in BUET, the standard would surely decline. It is high time for the BUET authorities to look into the matter with all seriousness.

Importance on pass and fail: Failing and passing in the universities should be accepted as normal phenomenon. If the authorities stress on passing of more students and the teachers take conducive steps, the standard of education would decline. If any university declares with satisfaction that all or most of their students pass in the examinations, then it in fact reveals its low standard of education.

Affect of coaching centers on higher education: The only means of comparing the quality of students is through their grades in public examinations. However, this criterion would have worked much more efficiently, if there was no 'coaching centre business' in the country. Since the coaching centers supply "well written answers" of selected questions, the inferior quality student’s memories those and get higher grades. However, the grade in Mathematics (inclusive of all mathematical subjects) may be considered an exception. If the education boards take a decision of giving altogether new problems in mathematics question in the public examinations, then the grade of mathematics could be considered the best criterion of quality.

 The university teachers feel the ill effects of the coaching centres through the poor performances of students with high grades. The students accustomed to 'coaching centres' in general are reluctant to take the trouble of finding out the answers by themselves and expect the teachers to do the same for them. In some private universities the teachers in fact have submitted to their pressures. One efficient way to improve the quality of higher education in Bangladesh is to close all coaching centres.

Alumni association: The best way to know the standard of education of any university is to collect the reactions of and feedback from its alumni. For obvious reasons some universities, specially the private universities do not show much interest in alumni associations, even though UGC has stressed upon its formation. The ex-students have got the natural advantage and scope of expressing the truth. Being no longer students they are absolutely free to opine about their former teachers, administration and their teaching methods. Also, being in practical field they are aware how much they suffer for getting jobs or admissions. The expression of their experiences may be taken as the true and neutral picture of education in their ex-universities. Incorporating their suggestions by the concerned universities can be seen as the best means of improving the standard.

 Instead of mere suggesting the universities to form alumni associations, the UGC may go one step ahead. They may ask the universities to deposit alumni fees (on the basis of number of passing out students) with a bank account of the UGC. The alumni associations of various universities may be asked to meet at least twice a year in conferences and prepare their observations and recommendations. The UGC may hand proportionate amount of fees after getting their reactions and recommendations. Then the commission may publish their findings and ask the concerned universities to take remedial steps.

Improving the quality of higher education is a difficult job, much difficult than what a teacher of a US university may think. It needs serious and well-thought-out steps for finding out the root cause of deficiencies and then suggesting remedial measures. In conclusion, I wish to summarise the problems mentioned above and the suggestions thereof.

1.     The quality of education in any university depends directly upon the quality of the teachers and condition of appointment. Thus, only those with best academic records should be appointed on attractive conditions as teachers.

2.     The quality of education in any university depends upon the academic performances of the students seeking admission. So, endeavour should be made for taking superior quality students, especially in Engineering and Science subjects. Universities may put bar on students using coaching centres.
iii) Superior curriculum of courses is important, but more important is the method of execution. The universities generally prepare good quality curriculum, but Endeavour should be made to monitor how those are being executed.

3.     The coaching centres enable inferior quality students to achieve superior grades. They also produce students who are reluctant to work hard for gathering knowledge. Therefore, all coaching centres should be closed immediately for the sake of improvement of the quality of higher education in Bangladesh.

4.     It is difficult to know what problems or opportunities the ex-students of various universities are having in the job market, professional jobs, admission to higher education etc. Thus the efficient way to collect the reactions of the alumni should be found out.

What has been written above are based on the scribe's experience of teaching at various levels in public and private universities in Bangladesh and some working experience in a few foreign countries.

Chapter - 5

Conclusion:

The goals of higher education and particularly the university education are to expand the frontier of knowledge, share knowledge and enable the society to enjoy the fruits of their intellectual pursuit. The discussion in the paper on demands for higher education, problems and issues show that there are constraints in the way of achieving the goals. Some of these constraints are within the system itself and some are the legacy of the past. To address these, the Government has given serious thought to the reform of the education system. It has adopted several significant measures for improvement of national education policy from the primary to the tertiary level. The measures relating to the tertiary level deserves special mention. The establishment of the Open University, the enactment of Private University Act, the provision for private medical colleges and teachers’ training colleges are a breakthrough in the existing higher education system. One of the innovative ideas behind these measures is involving the private sector in the expansion and development of higher education side by side with the public sector. It is expected that the academic programmes of the new institutions along with those offered in the existing higher educational institutions will be able to partly meet the rising demands for higher education in Bangladesh. We are very much optimistic about the Strategic Plan for Higher Education in Bangladesh: 2006-2026 which is already prepared by the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the Government of Bangladesh has approved the project named Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) and the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh is the implementing agency of this project. If the project implements properly and effectively, the present scenario of higher education in Bangladesh will improve satisfactorily in respect of quality, demand, existing challenges and issues to keep pace with the globalised world.