Nine students from five private universities in Bangladesh have been selected for the Prime Minister’s Gold Medal for academic years 2019, 2020 and 2021, as the University Grants Commission (UGC) released a combined list more than six years after the awards were last presented.
The UGC published the final list covering the three academic years after scrutinising nominations submitted by universities and sending the preliminary list back to institutions for verification. A total of 469 students from public and eligible private universities have been selected for the awards.
The nine private university students come from East West University, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT), Premier University and Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology.
The 2019 list includes Aliza Sharmin of AUST and Shamse Tasnim Cynthia of East West University.
For 2020, the selected students are Taskid Hossain Asif of AUST and Syeda Raisa Maliha of East West University.
The 2021 list includes Raisul Islam Shuvo of AUST, Saima Binte Hasan of East West University, Md. Shariful Islam of Premier University, Shahnaz Mia Puthi of Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology and Toufiq Ahmed of BUFT.
The UGC’s combined list contains 178 students for 2019, 141 for 2020 and 150 for 2021. Each recipient is scheduled to receive a medal made with 4.5 grams of 22-carat gold and 10 grams of silver, together with a certificate of honour, according to the award rules.
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The Prime Minister’s Gold Medal was introduced by the UGC in 2005 to recognise students achieving the highest marks or CGPA in their faculties at university level. The award is intended to encourage students to focus on academic performance and achieve strong results.
The programme initially covered students from public universities. The policy was later amended in 2018 to include students from private universities that had obtained permanent government certification.
That eligibility requirement is significant because Bangladesh’s private university sector has expanded rapidly, while many institutions have historically struggled to meet legal requirements relating to permanent campuses and other conditions. The Private University Act requires institutions to fulfil specified conditions before receiving permanent certification.
The five private universities represented in the latest Gold Medal list are among institutions that have obtained permanent certification. Earlier reporting identified AUST, East West University, Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology and BUFT among private universities that had secured permanent certificates; Premier University has also subsequently been included among institutions meeting the requirements.
The UGC’s own Prime Minister’s Gold Medal service page currently lists official materials for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 awards, as well as the relevant nomination notices and the Prime Minister’s Gold Medal policy. The commission says the final list was prepared after checking nominations received from universities and subsequent verification by the respective institutions.
The release of the latest list marks a substantial gap from the previous award cycle. The last reported Gold Medal ceremony was held on Feb. 26, 2020, when 172 students from 36 universities received the Prime Minister’s Gold Medal for their academic performance in 2018. At that ceremony, 84 male and 88 female students were recognised.
The 2018 award was itself the latest completed ceremony before the subsequent delay in publishing the awards for the following academic years. In 2019, 163 students had received the medal for their performance in 2017, showing the annual nature of the programme in its earlier years.
The latest selection therefore covers three academic cohorts at once. The combined 469-student list also illustrates the continued inclusion of private universities alongside public institutions under the revised eligibility framework.
Among all universities, the University of Dhaka has the highest number of selected students, with 30, followed by Rajshahi University with 28, according to the published list. Chittagong University has 25 nominees, while Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology has seven.
For Bangladesh’s private higher-education sector, the inclusion of nine students from five institutions is also notable because eligibility is tied to institutional compliance rather than simply academic performance. The policy effectively limits private-university participation to students from institutions that have secured the required permanent certification.
The distinction comes as the UGC continues to monitor compliance among the country’s growing number of private universities. Recent reporting based on UGC information showed that a significant number of private universities have yet to meet all legal requirements for permanent campuses and certification. The latest UGC figures reported by Prothom Alo said 22 institutions had received permanent certificates after fulfilling the required conditions, while 28 older universities were still unable to move to their own campuses within the legally prescribed period.
The delayed Gold Medal list thus represents both recognition of individual academic achievement and the implementation of the revised eligibility framework for private higher education.
With the 2019-2021 recipients now identified, the UGC is expected to proceed with the award process for the three cohorts. The final list is available through the commission’s Prime Minister’s Gold Medal section, which also hosts the policy and earlier award records.