The National University (NU) has taken up a set of programmes to equip students of its affiliated colleges with skills to meet global challenges, along with increasing financial aid for students, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr ASM Amanullah said today.

Speaking as the chief guest at the freshers' reception of the 2025-26 academic year at Ideal College, Dhanmondi, he said the initiatives include internationalising the syllabus, making ICT and English language courses mandatory in undergraduate honours, providing incentives for teachers and students in research, and offering training for teachers. NU is also entering into agreements with renowned universities at home and abroad to implement these reforms.

Professor Amanullah expressed hope that NU students would be free from session jams by next June, noting that for the first time in the university's 33-year history, exam results had been published within two months.

To ensure no student is deprived of education due to financial hardship, he said the university has doubled its scholarship fund from Tk 10 crore to Tk 20 crore. He urged students to devote themselves to studies and research, saying successful implementation of the initiatives would make NU students proud in the future.

Advising Ideal College students to focus on becoming worthy citizens, he said NU wants the college to live up to its name as an exemplary institution. He also suggested that the college authorities launch a scholarship in the name of Khaled Saifullah, martyr of the July-August Uprising, or name a building or library after him.

The event was chaired by Ideal College Acting Principal Muhammad Rezwanul Haque, with Board of Directors President Professor Dr SM Mostafa Al Mamun attending as special guest. The programme concluded with cultural performances by students.