Submission of application for enrolment to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU) will start next week, said sources concerned. Vice Chancellor of the university Air vice Marshal AHM Fazlul Haque told Bangladesh Post, “We are optimistic that we will be able to call application from students within next seven to ten days.”
Observing that the university will be an global standard one, he said, “Curriculum is being prepared with assistance from experts of aviation universities of many different countries.” “We are offering three undergraduate and two masters programme at the beginning. We are confident soon we will be able to offer others programs,” he added.
“Land allocation is almost completed, I hope we will be able to complete the construction of academic buildings within scheduled time,” the VC said referring to the university’s permanent campus in Lalmonirhat. The BSMRAAU will be the country’s first university of its kind where study on the technologies of aircraft construction, repair, satellite construction, and launching and aerospace research will be conducted.
The university is establishing its permanent campus in the northern district of the country. According to BSMRAAU information, all necessary formalities have already been completed, now the authority concerned is waiting for final approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC) to call applications from students for the academic year 2020.
UGC chairman Professor Dr Kazi Shahidullah told Bangladesh Post that establishing a public university required vast formalities, as majority work has already been completed, we can say the academic activities of the country’s first-ever aviation university will start within a very short time.
UGC Public University Director Md Kamal Hossain told Bangladesh Post, “We sought curriculums from the university authority, and we sent them for expert opinion. They also provided positive feedback. Now some government formalities remain to provide the final approval”.
About the academic activities, Kamal replied, by this month final permission will be given and hopefully, the can start admission procedures.
Earlier, a high-powered delegation visited the Lalmonirhat Airport to set up the university as per the decision made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who, while inaugurating Kurigram Express recently had said, “Our government is establishing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University (BSMRAAU) in the northern district”.
Aviation experts opined, as there is an old airport already existing, upgradation of the airport for the proposed university will play a vital role both for air traffic and the students. According to the university information, the country needs new professionals across various sectors including aviation to reap the benefit of the national demographic dividend.
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) forecast that global air passenger growth would double by 2030 and within this time, the Asia Pacific region is expected to become the largest air transport market globally. Such a global trend of aviation expansion will create ample opportunities in the aviation sector of the country.
In this situation, the authorities concerned feel the need to establish such an institution to create aeronautical and aerospace professionals in the country. It is to be noted, Education Minister Dipu Moni placed the bill in Parliament which was passed on 28 February 2019. With various academic and technical innovations and important value addition, the university’s concerned people say, it’s a step towards becoming a developed nation in which aviation and aerospace technology will be a major economic booster and a high-end income-generating sector.
The Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB) and Bangladesh Air Force will be the driving forces behind the university, while Biman Bangladesh Airlines and other local and international industry stakeholders will work together to run BSMRAAU.
