He was making a presentation on 'The importance of general education for undergraduates: A case study of the NUS' at Independent University, Bangladesh in the city.

"University education in Bangladesh does not seem to emphasise problem solving skills, especially in sciences, and seriously neglect general education," said Belal, an associate professor of Physics at the NUS.

University graduates will face hurdles in critical thinking and solving real life problems if they cannot develop pragmatic, moral and civic capacity, he said, adding that "Specialised knowledge without broad-based general education would be one-sided and incomplete."

Belal highlighted different aspects of NUS curriculum for general education and its updating.

He focused on broad range of knowledge, information, intellectual abilities, articulating and attitudes as he was explaining the necessity of general education for the spread of knowledge.

General education should familiarise students at a non-specialist level with leading ideas of major domains of knowledge so that students can synthesise knowledge and construct their own landscape of knowledge, he added.

He said it is aimed to unearth interconnection between scientific and humanistic exploration of humanity and the ties of humanity with non-human world.

Belal meant general education as the study of scientific literacy, information science, fundamentals of politics, history and economics, moral and spiritual values, literature and arts and their continuing relevance.

He also pointed out general reading, academic writing and societal engagement as three new areas of general education.

"There is almost no emphasis on general education in public and private universities," he added.

Mentioning that there have been no major curriculum reforms in public universities for 30 years, Belal said, "There is an urgent need to reform the curriculum to bring it in line with the best practices worldwide. Synthesising various forms of knowledge is a hallmark of 21st century."

"Bangladesh needs to have a modern educated workforce to benefit from globalisation," he said.

While delivering welcome address, IUB Vice-chancellor Prof Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury said all tertiary education should be based on humanities, natural and social sciences, adding, "Not only the main curricula, but also other section of knowledge needs to be given emphasis."

Towheed Samad, chairman of IUB Education, Science, Technology and Cultural Development Trust, noted that there is an imbalance in current education curricula.