Tk100 crore (about $8 million) in scholarships: one Bangladeshi university's bet on talented students who can't pay

Eastern University in Dhaka has spent more than Tk100 crore (about $8 million) on scholarships for meritorious students — support aimed squarely at academically promising young people from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, the university's delegation told President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at Bangabhaban on 28 October. The delegation, led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Farid Ahmad Sobhani, also reported that Eastern's students have won the Bangladesh round of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition four times, including in 2026. The president urged universities across the country to pair that kind of access with world-class technical, engineering and AI-focused education, so talent — not family income — decides who gets ahead.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: funding & finance