Bangladesh Open University At a Glance

The need for an open university in Bangladesh was felt long ago. The history of distance education in Bangladesh dates back to 1956, when the Education Directorate was assigned with the responsibility for distribution of 200 radio receivers to educational institutions. This led to the creation of an Audio-Visual Cell, which was upgraded to Audio-Visual Education Centre in 1962. No further progress in distance education was made till 1971.

After Independence, Bangladesh faced the challenge of meeting the educational needs of mass people. To meet this challenge the necessity for a new mode of education was widely felt. As a sequel to that feeling, the School Broadcasting Pilot Project was launched in 1978. The project was transformed into National Institute of Educational Media and Technology (NIEMT) in 1983.

NIEMT was later replaced by  the Bangladesh Institute of Distance Education (BIDE) in 1985. Apart from producing audio-visual materials, BIDE offered the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program in distance mode. The success of BIDE encouraged policymakers to take up a major plan for establishing an open university. The plan became a reality in October 1992 when the Bangladesh Open University Act 1992 was passed in the Parliament.

Bangladesh Open University (BOU) at a Glance :

Established	October 21, 1992
Type	Public University
Mode of Delivery	Open and Distance Learning
Chancellor	Md. Abdul Hamid Honorable President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. Dr. M A Mannan
Pro-Vice Chancellor	Prof. Dr. Khondaker Mokaddem Hossain
Treasurer	Prof. Md.Abu Taher
Total Students (Formal Programs)	4,99,936 ( Session: 2013-2014)
Location	Board Bazar, Gazipur, Bangladesh
Area	35 Acres
Academic Schools	6
Administrative Divisions	11
Total Academic Programs	51 (Formal Programs:32; Non-Formal Prorgams:19)
Regional Centers/Campuses	12
Sub-Regional Centers	80
Study Centers	1451
Total Teachers/Tutors	24755
Examination Centers	1194
Affiliations/Membership	The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) International Council for Open and Distance Learning (ICODL) Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Commonwelth Educational Media Center for Asia (CEMCA) Association of SAARC Universities (ASU) Global Alliance for Transnational Education (GATE) International Research Foundation for Open Learning (IRFOL) Commonwealth Open Schooling Association (COMOSA) International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)
International Collaboration	Open University of Sri Lanka Open University,UK Open University of Malaysia
On-going Projects	Devlopment of E-Learning Centre and Interactive Virtual Class Rooms by Korean International Cooperation Agency INSPIRE Project for Devlopment of English Teaching by British Council