The University Grants Commission of Bangladesh and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation will jointly work to protect the social and mental health of the country鈥檚 university students who are victims in the anti-discrimination student movement and after the movement.
This proposal was accepted in a meeting of the UGC chairman Professor SMA Faiz with the delegation of UNESCO Bangladesh at the UGC on Wednesday, said a press release.
The two organisations are taking the initiative to implement the 鈥楽ocial and Mental Health Protection鈥� project. It has been decided to formulate a framework and sign the contract soon for the implementation of the project.聽聽
The UGC members Professor Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, Professor Mohammad Anwar Hossain, and the UGC secretary Md Fakhrul Islam, while Suzanne Vize-led four-member UNESCO Bangladesh delegation attended the meeting.
Suzanne Vize said that due to the recent student movement, the students of higher education institutions in Bangladesh were under intense stress. 鈥業t has not been possible to start educational programmes in many institutions yet. They need a lot of support right now to protect their mental health.鈥�
This is an excellent proposal in the current context of the country. The UGC will provide full cooperation in timely implementation of this project, said the UGC chairman, expressing hope that this project would bring positive results among the students of higher education institutions of the country.聽
Mentioning that the past government鈥檚 suppression on the anti-discrimination student movement had created anxiety among the students, Tanzimuddin Khan felt that this initiative would play an important role in implementing the proposals of UNESCO for the welfare of students.
The proposed pilot project aims to provide social and mental healthcare to 10,000 students of public and private universities in the country. It will later be expanded to 175 universities through project demand assessment, added the press release.