Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mahboob Ali, Professor of Economics at Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) and External Auditor of the Bangladesh Accreditation Council (BAC), played a prominent role at the International Conference on Innovation, Excellence and Quality for Transformation in Higher Education 2026 (THE 2026), held at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) on June 12–13.

The two-day international conference brought together leading academics, policymakers and researchers from Bangladesh and abroad to discuss the future of higher education, quality assurance and institutional transformation.

Prof. Ali chaired Technical Session D1T1P2 on Curriculum Innovation and Outcome-Based Education, guiding discussions with his expertise in higher education quality assurance. 

He also presented a solo research paper titled “Strategic Framework for Higher Education Accreditation and Global Ranking (2027–2037)” during a session on leadership, policy and governance in higher education. The session chair lauded the paper as a significant contribution to Bangladesh’s higher education sector.

In addition, Prof. Ali co-presented two major research studies. The first, “English and Mathematics as Foundations of Employability in TVET: Competency Gaps Among Bangladeshi Students – A Case Study of UCEP Bangladesh Using NVivo,” was jointly authored with Farhana Easmin Mitu and Mizanur Rahman. 

The second study, “Field Investigation on Perception of Pupils on Economic and Non-Economic Factors Affecting Admission & Non-Completion of Studies at BUBT – In Line with the Four Domains of BAC,” was conducted with Farhana Easmin Mitu, Mizanur Rahman and Tasfiunnoor Pinky.

The research team recommended expanding the studies to other universities to strengthen student welfare initiatives and retain experienced PhD-qualified faculty engaged in active research.

Praising the work, Prof. Md Golam Samdani Fakir described the second study as “an extraordinary research work” and urged policymakers to utilize its findings and conduct comparative assessments across public and private universities nationwide.

Prof. Ali also served as a quality assurance expert panelist in the IQAC Forum discussion on “Integrating Policy, Strategy and Practice for Advancing Governance, Quality Culture and Accreditation in Higher Education.”During the session, he proposed several practical reforms, including the development of digital assessment software, strengthening BAC’s role as an output auditor, streamlining moderation systems, enhancing outcome-based assessment practices, removing VAT and banking charges on publication fees for internationally indexed journals, and introducing a national journal ranking framework through the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC).

His active participation as session chair, researcher and policy contributor underscored the growing influence of Bangladeshi academics in shaping global discussions on higher education quality and accreditation.

Expressing gratitude to IUB for hosting the event, Prof. Ali said more universities should organize similar international conferences to foster academic collaboration, improve educational standards and narrow the gap between public and private higher education institutions in Bangladesh.

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