The education ministry took the initiative to amend the act amidst widespread allegations of declining quality of education, financial mismanagement and recruitment of teachers lacking required qualification at the private universities.

"The University Grants Commission (UGC) has finalised a draft of the Private University Act, 2004 after necessary changes in the Private University Act, 1998," UGC Chairman Prof M Asaduzzaman told The Daily Star.

The law ministry has vetted the draft that will now be placed before the cabinet for its approval, he said. "If it gets cabinet nod, it will be placed before parliament for passage approval."

Not a single private university meets the required criteria including own campus, required faculty members and library and laboratory facilities, experts said.

There are now 52 private universities in the country and another has received approval of the UGC, the higher education watchdog. The latest one -- Atish Dipankar University -- will teach computer and information and communications technology-related subjects with a special focus on Buddhist studies.

The UGC has now suspended approval of private universities. It has received eight proposals seeking approval for establishing private universities.

The UGC chairman pointed out that the Private University Act 1992

and its 1998 amended version lacked adequate provisions for governing the growing number of private universities.

The proposed act will specify the role of vice-chancellors and board of trustees of the universities to eliminate the existing tug of war between the two sides, he said.

Rules require that every private university must have five acres of land and it should be shifted to its permanent campus within five years. But most of those are housed in multi-storied buildings, mainly in commercial areas, without the required campus.

Worse still, some do not even have any infrastructures for their students and run on infrastructures hired on shift basis from non-government educational institutions.

A number of private universities are housed in buildings where garments factories are located beside them.

Meanwhile, one private university started construction work on its permanent site last month and some have procured land on the capital's suburbs with no sign of any constructions as yet.