The Government of Bangladesh and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) have signed an agreement for a new project aimed at enhancing nursing education and research in the country.

The project, titled “Education and Research Capacity Building of National Institute of Advanced Nursing Education and Research (NIANER) in Bangladesh,” will be funded by a $5.9 million grant from Koica.

The Record of Discussion (RoD) and Terms of Reference (ToR) for the project were signed today (31 August) by Mirana Mahrukh, additional secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Jihoon Kim, country director of Koica Bangladesh.

The project, which will be implemented by the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery, is a landmark initiative as it will establish a foundation for the development of high-quality nursing faculty by enabling nurses to pursue a PhD degree for the first time in Bangladesh’s history.

It aims to achieve this through the operation of PhD and training programmes in nursing at NIANER.

According to a 2024 UNB report, the then UGC chairman Anwar Hossain made an announcement in a views exchange meeting with a seven member Koica delegation.

The Koica representatives had put forward a report on the country’s nursing education and research sector and demanded to launch the PhD programme through the NIANER.

Currently, there are diploma, Bsc and Msc programmes in nursing education in Bangladesh.