Higher Ed Sector May Benefit from World Trade Organization Moves

HEADLINES

Higher Ed Sector May Benefit from World Trade Organization Moves (University World News, August 21, 2025) The Ethiopian government’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), if successful, may help the Horn of Africa country reform and expand its higher education sector, according to experts. Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Gofe Balami, has been leading the country’s WTO negotiation efforts, noting how reforms would need to be fully compliant with WTO rules to “enhance economic resilience ... and create a conducive business environment.” It added that issues of accreditation, quality assurance, and recognition of foreign degrees and qualifications are also increasingly crucial for WTO members and are reflected in their GATS liberalization commitments.

A Separate Higher Education Commission (The Financial Express, August 18, 2025) In higher education, quality is not an ornamentation dream-rather, it is the building block on which nations build their intellectual capital, economic competitiveness, and cultural dynamism. In Bangladesh, the current regulatory framework, however, treats public and private universities as if they were similar parts of one homogenous academic structure. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) operate with regulations that favorably stimulate innovation in private higher education. Accreditation ratings emphasize features such as strong industry relationships, start-up incubation centers, patent filings, and applied research projects with concrete economic value. Accordingly, India's leading private universities, such as Ashoka University, Shiv Nadar University, and Amity University, have established globally recognized programs, partnered with multinational corporations, and employed foreign faculty—achievements made possible due to accreditation systems that promote, rather than deter, research and entrepreneurial pursuits.

French Private Sector Law ‘Keeps Responsibility on Students’ (Times Higher Ed, August 12, 2025) Regulation proposed after concerns about quality, but critics say it presents ‘individual solutions to a collective problem.’ If it passes, private universities that are not partnered with a public institution will be required to receive accreditation from the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, following an assessment from the High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education, to be listed on the online application platform Parcoursup, and admit students with scholarships.

How a Better Accreditation System Can Reform Higher Education (The Daily Sun, August 7, 2025) In the realm of higher education, accreditation serves as a promise and assurance that institutions meet certain standards of quality and accountability. Globally, accreditation is treated as a mechanism of trust. It tells students, parents, employers, and governments the value a university provides for the time and money a student spends during the graduation period. However, in Bangladesh, this noble concept risks becoming a bureaucratic pretense rather than focusing on appearances, bypassing the actual outcomes.