RCE Greater Dhaka-2013
1. Name of RCE :
RCE Greater Dhaka
2. Continent:
Asia-Pacific
3. Country:
Bangladesh
5. Project Title:
Knowledge Based Area Development (KBAD) project expanded throughout the country to gear up ESD lessons with training and practices.
7.Project Partner Contact Information Provide information about the main contacts for the project. :
Organization:
IUBAT—International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
Role:
Higher Education
Main Contact:
Professor Mohammed Ataur Rahman Email: marahman@iubat.edu
9. Project Description Provide a short description of the project including regional challenges it addresses, its aims as well as project activities/strategies Allow text field (character count 500 words):
Bangladesh is the most densely populated least developed country in the world having a population 165 million in an area 147,570 km². Most of the country is the alluvial flood plain of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Basin and is agriculture-based. But due to intense cultivation and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides the land has increasingly losing its fertility. Recently growing garments, hide and leather, medicine and ship breaking industries have made a significant economic improvement but at the cost of environmental resources viz. water, air, soil, biodiversity and human health due to pollution and lack of knowledge. Although the government has taken a mass awareness to eradicate illiteracy to cover primary education which has reached at 53.7% (BBS 2013). About seventy percent of the youths of age 15 to 25 are still remain unskilled and many of them do not have the opportunity for higher education. For a strong nation, the youths are the strength but due to lack of opportunity for higher education and training, this population has become a great burden of the society; youths are unemployed, become lazy and they used to get involved with social crimes and political chaos.
Bangladesh is endowed with people, but has very limited natural resources and financial capital. By developing the people in the human capital, it can be overcome some of the limitations of the country’s physical capital and at the same time a foundation of generating capital resources. Considering this, Professor M Alimullah Miyan, Vice-Chancellor and the Founder of IUBAT and the pioneer organizer of establishing Non-Government Universities in Bangladesh, has postulated the concept of “Knowledge Based Area Development (KBAD)” to educate young person from each locality for giving opportunity to go for higher education in ‘marketable knowledge and skills with sustainability practices’. Through active participation of every educated individual of the society it is possible to break the vicious cycle of poverty to build up a prosperous country based on knowledge and skill. This concept has been institutionalized and strengthens the ongoing drive towards nation building and accelerates the dream of making Bangladesh a prosperous self-reliance country.
IUBAT, the first Non-Government University of Bangladesh, has emerged as a higher education institute to create human resource capital with skilled manpower having specific knowledge on sustainability for last two decades. It has a distinct history of disaster management training, health and hygiene program for the urban slum dwellers, spreading education through education loan into the rural Bangladesh. All these efforts and expertise lead to chose right development options for the country which are sustainable.
A mandatory education for sustainability course has been introduced for all of its students of IUBAT. In this course, importance of environmental sciences, ecosystem services, basic needs and resources their availability and limitations are taught to aware students of all disciplines of the university. For a sustainable use-practice of natural resources like energy, air, water, minerals, soil and biodiversity etc., emphasizing 3R’s i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle are being practiced throughout the campus life.
Bangladesh is endowed with people, but has very limited natural resources and financial capital. By developing the people in the human capital, it can be overcome some of the limitations of the country’s physical capital and at the same time a foundation of generating capital resources. Considering this, Professor M Alimullah Miyan, Vice-Chancellor and the Founder of IUBAT and the pioneer organizer of establishing Non-Government Universities in Bangladesh, has postulated the concept of “Knowledge Based Area Development (KBAD)” to educate young person from each locality for giving opportunity to go for higher education in ‘marketable knowledge and skills with sustainability practices’. Through active participation of every educated individual of the society it is possible to break the vicious cycle of poverty to build up a prosperous country based on knowledge and skill. This concept has been institutionalized and strengthens the ongoing drive towards nation building and accelerates the dream of making Bangladesh a prosperous self-reliance country.
IUBAT, the first Non-Government University of Bangladesh, has emerged as a higher education institute to create human resource capital with skilled manpower having specific knowledge on sustainability for last two decades. It has a distinct history of disaster management training, health and hygiene program for the urban slum dwellers, spreading education through education loan into the rural Bangladesh. All these efforts and expertise lead to chose right development options for the country which are sustainable.
A mandatory education for sustainability course has been introduced for all of its students of IUBAT. In this course, importance of environmental sciences, ecosystem services, basic needs and resources their availability and limitations are taught to aware students of all disciplines of the university. For a sustainable use-practice of natural resources like energy, air, water, minerals, soil and biodiversity etc., emphasizing 3R’s i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle are being practiced throughout the campus life.
11.Provide references and reference materials (possibility to upload additional documents (up to 8mb):
12. Duration of the Project Start Date: End date::
Thursday, January 1, 2004 to Saturday, December 31, 2016
Describe Coordination and management of the project. Please also reflect how the RCE as a network organization has contributed to the project and the challenges involved, if any. Character count 400 words :
A multipurpose cooperative society has been established by the IUBAT community, Youth communities and volunteers, Civil Society, Individual donors and Rotary International to mobilizing funds and to utilize the resources for providing educational financing in the form of repayable loans and scholarships to the members and their dependents. Special support with 15% tuition fee waiver has been provided to the female students to encourage women education and training in the country. This concept has been spread to other partners and is in progress to cover all villages of Bangladesh by 2016. Initially repayment was not regular but now it is alright.
14. What are the current results of the project in terms of outputs (e.g. publications, developed practices, course materials)? Character count 300 words:
The detail updated information has been provided in the attached publication
15. What are the expected/confirmed outcomes (e.g. impact of the project) Character count 400 words:
To make all the youths in to skilled resource person so that they can be self-employed or can work other countries. Grooming up with dress and behavior and sustainability practice all the youths are performing better in their job sector in the country as well as outside.
16. Are there any unexpected/unplanned results achieved by your project? If yes, briefly describe or list them . Character count 200 words.:
No unexpected result as yet
17. What are the remaining challenges and/or limitations for further development? Character count 300 words.:
Financial support is a limitation but still does not ask for fund. It need an operation of a central education bank for which financial support is required to accelerate the program.
Since the medium of instruction and communication is in English so initially students were hesitating whether they can cope up or not, but it is now fully in line. Inside the campus English is considered as the first language.
Since the medium of instruction and communication is in English so initially students were hesitating whether they can cope up or not, but it is now fully in line. Inside the campus English is considered as the first language.
18. What is the project’s contribution to innovative and transformative educational processes for sustainable development (especially regarding formal and/ non-formal learning/research)? Character count 500 words:
The great success or contribution is the spreading of higher education throughout the country and it is developing by the help of individual stakeholders who is inspiring to involve others and thus spreading very quickly
19.How can you scale up and mainstream ESD and SD practices of the project and enable it to contribute to the implementation of the Global Action Programme (GAP) as proposed by UNESCO? (max 300 words):
It is a self resilient project. Started with 200 stakeholders and now more than 12,000. All are being trained up and taught about the environmental sustainable practices. Mandatory 3 R practice, control of misuses of resources, learning process all are spreading from the teachers to students,seniors to juniors; students to staffs and to their families and to their neighbors. Awareness campaign, Parents' day, environment day' Principals Day, workshops and seminars, and institution cultivation by sending internal resources (Students, staffs and faculties)are done regularly.
20. How does you project contribute institutional and policy reforms as part of sustainability change? Character count 500 words:
It is really a noble way to motivate and change the behavior towards ethical, moral and sustainable activities as the students are bonded to practices under the guidance of skilled mentors. In this model the unprevilized and the poor, backward society get the scope to higher education and training and thus become assets of the society. It is only the IMCSL—IUBAT Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited who achieved such a big success to involve 12,000 students from a tiny asset.
21. How does your project further improve capacities of various partners and stakeholders on the theme? Character count 500 words.:
Through Seminars and Workshops, Institutional Cultivation (Secondary and higher schools), through field visits, Video clips referring the cases showing the success of others and involving the different walks of communities.
22.What is the significance of this project for developing global linkages in order to strengthen activities in this area? (max 250 words):
Through networking and following the KBAD model IUBAT has established MOU with 79 Universities around the world specially USA, Canada, Japan, UK, India and Australia etc. and Organizations like AMDISA, WMO, AMY, IGBP, APN, IFOAM, WWOOF, IAUP, UNU-IAS etc.
23. What is novel about the project within the RCE network and what could other RCEs learn from this experience? (Answer only if relevant) Character count 250 words.:
It could be a model for spreading ESD practices through KBAD in the RCE Partners as well as other RCEs. It is simple but needs integrated efforts.
24. What is the significance of this project for the region? How important are its results for its particular project category? Character count 250 words.:
For a conscious and knowledge-based society IUBAT has been teaching ethics, moral justice, and grooming up as skilled human resource for national and international job markets as well as spreading higher education allover in Bangladesh by educational funding under the KBAD program
Region:
Asia-Pacific
