Making South Asia Shared Classroom: Reimagining Bangladesh’s Universities

Long before Oxford or Harvard became synonymous with higher learning, South Asia’s Taxila and Nalanda were already attracting scholars across borders, reflecting a tradition in which knowledge flourished through exchange. Today’s picture is depressing. South Asia has more than two billion people and over 1,500 universities, yet only six institutions, all in India, rank among the world’s top 300 in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with none in the top 100. Bangladesh has 172 approved universities and more than 4.8 million students, but none in the global top 500. Rankings are imperfect measures of quality, but they highlight a wider challenge: our universities need not only stronger infrastructure, research and curricula, but greater international exposure, collaboration and academic mobility.
One practical response could begin with something surprisingly simple: allow more Bangladeshi students to spend one credited semester at another university. A structured student mobility programme could enable undergraduates to study at a partner institution while having their credits recognised towards their degree at home. This should not be seen as an alternative to completing degrees at leading universities in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, China or elsewhere. Rather, it would complement those opportunities by making international academic exposure available to thousands of students who may never be able to finance an entire degree overseas.
Initially, Bangladeshi universities could establish partnerships across South Asia. A student of climate science in Dhaka might spend a semester studying Himalayan ecosystems in Nepal. A public health student could learn from Sri Lanka’s health system. Engineering, agriculture, artificial intelligence, disaster management, renewable energy and water security offer equally compelling possibilities.
Europe has demonstrated what sustained academic mobility can achieve. Erasmus began in 1987 with only 3,200 students from 11 countries. It has since evolved into Erasmus+, one of the world’s most ambitious educational mobility programmes. In 2024, almost 1.5 million people participated in learning opportunities supported by a €4.7 billion budget. Mobility also develops adaptability, intercultural competence, confidence and professional networks valued in a global labour market. Australia’s New Colombo Plan offers another useful lesson. Since 2014, more than 55,000 Australian students from 41 universities have participated in study, language training, internships and research across the Indo-Pacific. Its philosophy matters: understanding a region cannot come entirely from books or occasional travel. Young people need opportunities to live, learn and work alongside their neighbours.
Bangladesh does not need to copy either programme. It should design one around its own needs. A Bangladesh Student Mobility Programme could begin as a carefully evaluated pilot involving selected public and private universities. Students could undertake semester-long exchanges combining academic study with language learning, research, internships or community engagement. The Ministry of Education and University Grants Commission could establish common standards for eligibility, credit recognition, quality assurance and financing. Affordability must sit at the centre of the design. Government grants could cover reasonable travel, insurance and living expenses, with additional assistance for women, students with disabilities and young people from rural and low-income communities. Universities also have responsibilities. Reciprocal tuition waivers, accommodation support and automatic credit recognition can ensure exchanges enrich, rather than delay, students’ degrees. The government can also help build partnerships. Many Bangladeshi universities lack strong international networks, and diplomatic missions could connect them with credible universities, research institutions, professional bodies and alumni networks, initially in South Asia and later across Australia, Europe, East Asia and North America.
Mobility should also work in both directions. Bangladesh should welcome more international students into its universities. The country has valuable knowledge to share in areas, including microfinance, public health, climate adaptation, disaster resilience and development practice. An international student spending a semester in Dhaka can become an informal ambassador for Bangladesh long after returning home.
The private sector should have a seat at the table as well. Banks, pharmaceutical companies, garment exporters, telecommunications companies and technology firms increasingly require graduates capable of working across cultures and markets. Supporting mobility scholarships, internships and research placements should therefore be viewed not as corporate charity, but as investment in human capital.
There is also a larger South Asian opportunity. Regional platforms, like SAARC and BIMSTEC, could support university networks, regional scholarships and eventually common approaches to credit transfer. What begins as bilateral partnerships between universities could gradually develop into a South Asian mobility framework.
The returns would reach far beyond education. South Asian cooperation has repeatedly been constrained by mistrust, political disputes and limited people-to-people interaction. A Bangladeshi student living for six months in Kathmandu, or a Sri Lankan student sharing a classroom in Dhaka, encounters a neighbour as a person rather than a stereotype. Years later, these students may become researchers, entrepreneurs, civil servants or political leaders. Relationships created at university can quietly become part of the region’s diplomatic and economic infrastructure.
South Asia once flourished because scholars crossed borders in search of knowledge. Perhaps part of its educational future lies in rediscovering that tradition. For Bangladesh, connecting classrooms across borders would not merely internationalise universities. It could help create a generation better prepared to understand its neighbours, compete globally and cooperate across the divisions that have held this region back for far too long.
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The writer is an academician and development strategist, currently serving at a foreign diplomatic mission in Dhaka. He can be reached at [email protected]