Reflections on public administration education with a case of Bangladesh
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0144739420929372 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Reflections on public
administration education
with a case of Bangladesh
Muhammad Azizuddin
Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University London, UK
Akram Hossain
Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway
Abstract
The paper aims to review public administration education in the higher education
institutions in Bangladesh, and their role in ensuring modern public services. Most uni-
versities in the country offer public administration degrees; however, minimal contri-
butions to nationbuilding have been observed. The study asks: what are the pitfalls
behind this? How to address the limitations? This is a qualitative study with gleaned data,
using inductive content analysis to investigate the phenomenon with three case uni-
versities indicating the link between curriculum and learning delivery at the universities in
Bangladesh. The research finds that poor development-oriented public administration
education has little correlation to national development. The education system is tra-
ditional, where typical cultural features are nonchalance and indifference towards
domestic demands. The discipline cannot create a distinctive identity and position in
academia, which has consequences for the advancement of the administrative system in a
developing country like Bangladesh. A research-informed curriculum with innovative
pedagogical approach might be an alternative. The paper enlightens both academics and
practitioners, as literature on public administration education in Bangladesh has been
scarce. It calls for higher education institutions to reassess public administration edu-
cation, teaching methods and research for national development.
Keywords
Public administration, education and learning, curriculum, pedagogy, higher education,
Bangladesh, public university, private university
Corresponding author:
Akram Hossain, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Christiesgt. 17,
Postboks 7082, 5020 Bergen, Norway.
Email: Akram.Hossain@uib.no; Telephone: þ4792535951
Teaching Public Administration
2021, Vol. 39(1) 46–66
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0144739420929372
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Introduction
Public administration is ‘a social reality of people and organization’ as well as ‘a specific
academic field of study, i.e. the science or study of public administration’ (Rutgers,
2010: 3). It ‘deals with values, depending on beliefs’, which shape world views, and
government visions with differing in praxis towards changes (Rommel and Christiaens,
2006: 616). The targeted students of public administration education are both current and
future civil servants (Huque, 1992; Ventriss, 1991), who would serve the nation and
promote national development. Unlike many other field of studies (e.g. poltical science,
sociology), public administration as a separate academic discipline came in late, with
developing countries following the developed nations without realising the pros and cons
(Huque, 1992). As a result, it suffers from a lack of context-driven teaching approaches.
There are two substantive reasons, as argued by Khan (2001), for the underdevelopment
of public administration as a distinct academic discipline: one is that public adminis-
tration was considered the sole domain of public bureaucracy, whose staff can learn by
doing their job or through on-the-job training. Another reason is that it was treated as a
sub-discipline of political science, and political scientists were not cooperative enough
for the development of public administration as a distinct academic discipline.
More recently, however, the importance of public administration as a separate dis-
cipline has been well recognised, although belatedly, by academics and practitioners in
developed countries in the early stages and later by developing regions of the world. As
we reach the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the issue of public admin-
istration as an independent discipline, unfortunately, remains at the realisation stage
through creating a public administration department separate from its mother or sister
departments. The question now is to what extent public administration can establish its
position in academia as a distinct discipline and whether it stands alone with specific
standards in curriculum, teaching, and research endeavours.
This paper is a qualitative study based on gleaned data from both primary and sec-
ondary sources. The methodology used for the study reported in this paper includes a
detailed discussion of public administration education and critical observation of the
phenomenon. Thus, the study begins with a descriptive discussion and moves to an in-
depth analysis to generalise likely outcomes (Azizuddin, 2016; Finnegan, 1998; Noo-
teboom, 2003; Zifcak, 1992). As public administration is taught at the tertiary level, we
have explored university websites and other online sources for required information. Our
personal experiences as insiders of the studied universities are also reflected in the paper
(Polanyi, 1964). We have critically examined the course curriculum and pedagogy of
two public universities in Bangladesh as an embedded case and presented a graduate
programme in a private university as a model for its distinct features (Denzin and
Lincoln, 2005; Yin, 2014).
Many universities around the world offer public administration at both undergraduate
and postgraduatelevel of studies. Similarly, in Bangladesh, most of the public universities
have launched a Department of Public Administration separate from the Department of
Political Science; universities tend to follow one another in replicating courses and cur-
ricula with little or no modification (Huque, 1992). However, to what extent is the socio-
Azizuddin and Hossain 47
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