Germany is willing to establish a strong collaboration with Bangladesh to develop the country’s textiles and higher education sectors, said a UGC press release. A three-member German delegation expressed the interest at a meeting with University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor Abdul Mannan at his office on Monday. The meeting was also attended, among others, by UGC members Professor Dr. Mohammad Yousuf Ali Mollah, Professor Dr. Dil Afroza Begum, Professor Dr. Md. Akhtar Hossain and Professor Dr. M. Shah Nowaz Ali, UGC secretary Dr. Md. Khaled, and Ministry of Education additional secretary Abdullah Al Hasan Chowdhury and deputy chief Rafique Ahmed Siddique. Led by Programme Coordinator of German-Bangladesh Higher Education Network on Sustainable Textiles Christian von Mitzlaff, the German team told the meeting that their government, through GIZ, is interested in working with Bangladesh in areas of textiles and higher education to enhance the skill of local workforce. Mr. Mitzlaff said Bangladesh needs high-quality skilled manpower for its socio- economic development, where Germany is willing to cooperate, especially in textiles and higher education sectors. He said GIZ is also willing to train the faculty members of the textiles universities here to enhance the quality of teaching, learning and research at tertiary level. They also stressed the need for establishing academic and research collaboration among the higher educational institutions of Bangladesh and Germany. Professor Abdul Mannan said UGC always welcomes assistance and cooperation from the donor countries for enhancement and internationalization of the country’s higher education. He said teaching and learning system of textile education needs to be modernized to meet the country’s need for skilled manpower.
