Frequently asked questions

A proposed national programme in which every eligible undergraduate completes one 16-week, credit-bearing semester of supervised, useful government service as part of their degree — with seats published by government offices, allocated to universities by transparent rules, booked by universities for their students, and verified through host + university + platform triangulation before a certificate is issued.

No. NUPSSP is a research blueprint and consultation proposal (October 2026). Nothing on this site implies government endorsement. The programme name itself is provisional. The next step would be a political decision to explore, followed by legal preparation and voluntary pilots.

No — the name means "nationwide across universities." The verified directory covers all 173 recognized universities (63 public, 108 private, 2 international). Whether NU's affiliated colleges (2,260–2,500 colleges) join is an explicit open question: including them is the only path to the 300,000-per-year hypothesis, and the baseline university-funded model cannot carry their cost (it would consume 64.3% of NU's entire UGC transfer). That is why the proposal phases to ~130,000/year with direct universities first.

Every figure carries a traceable source (SRC), assumption (ASM) or gap (GAP) identifier — 123 registered sources, 41 datasets, 35 documented gaps. Evidence classes (Verified / Reported / Derived / Estimate / Model) are used consistently. Missing data is recorded as missing, never invented as zero. See the Source Register and Data Gap Register.

There is no salary and no universal stipend in the baseline model — consistent with domestic precedents (BBA/B.Ed. placements are student-financed) and with the legal finding of no statutory wage obligation for degree-required placements. A need-based travel and living support fund (Tk 1,800–3,600 per supported student, ~30% of participants) targets low-income students placed away from home.

No. You continue paying exactly your existing university fees. The design rule is explicit: universities bear programme costs; students pay nothing new; for private universities this is legally reinforced by the PU Act 2010 fee framework and the 2023 fee-change lock.

Geographic distribution is a 15% allocation criterion and near-home placement is the default rule — Dhaka-concentration is explicitly checked. Where away-from-home placement is unavoidable, the need-based support fund applies, and daily transport/meals remain student-borne (disclosed, not a fee) as with existing internships.

You express preferences through the student portal, but the university makes the official booking — this is deliberate: it keeps allocation auditable and prevents influence peddling. You can accept or decline within the rules, and you can never be booked into tasks outside the published catalogue.

Named supervision (1:10 standard); no statutory powers, no cash, no confidential files; catalogued tasks only; accident & medical insurance; accessibility accommodations; grievance officer within 72 hours; retaliation protection; duration-neutrality monitoring (no graduation delay vs peers); appeals procedures.

The design says it must not: the service semester is a normal credit-bearing semester inside your degree, and "duration-neutrality verified" is an explicit pilot exit criterion (no graduation delay versus matched peers). If pilots show delays, that gates expansion.

BDT 7,567 / 12,050 / 16,033 per participant (low/medium/high tiers, UFM-09) — coordination, training, insurance, platform share, verification, M&E, accessibility and the need-based fund. Use the live calculator in the University demo.

At 100,000 participants nationally: public universities together ~0.28–0.59% of the public university system budget (within existing grants, via a UGC budget-line circular); private sector ~0.7–3.1% of estimated tuition revenue — top tier feasible, lower tier flagged as excluded. These are conditional findings (AFF register), not guarantees.

National functions (platform, allocation rules, audit, M&E) are centralized and shared — the platform is a university-consortium cost amortized per participant (Tk 1,667–3,333 at scale; higher per-capita at 100k entry scale). Universities run registration, application, booking, support and verification.

Utilization is 15% of the next cycle's allocation formula, hoarding is detected, and unused seats are released mid-cycle under audited rules. Fair allocation cuts both ways.

No cash in the baseline. Your contribution is in kind: workspace, utilities, basic equipment and supervision time (valued but not monetized, UFM-11).

No — explicitly forbidden and monitored. Students supplement staff on backlog, citizen-facing and campaign work; using them to fill vacant sanctioned posts is a violation.

Students sign confidentiality undertakings, work only on non-confidential or custody-controlled records, and incidents are reportable through the portal with 72-hour acknowledgement. Public records stay under supervising-officer custody; personal files are never accessed.

As many as your verified capacity allows — the binding constraint is trained supervisors (1:10 standard). The National Office approves seat numbers only after capacity checks; requests may be capped below what you ask.

It was the mandated funding rule for this study: universities pay; students pay no new fee; no new government appropriation in the baseline. Government-funded variants exist in the research as clearly-labelled departures from the baseline (Section 26 of the proposal).

A nationwide compulsory requirement needs new primary legislation, designed against Article 34 (prohibition of forced labour) of the Constitution — the 1970 National Service Ordinance is dormant, military-scoped and male-only, and provides no usable authority. Voluntary, credit-bearing pilots are legally possible administratively under existing university autonomy. All legal conclusions are desk findings requiring formal opinion (GAP-31/32).

No claim is made. International evidence (Uganda, Brazil, Indonesia audit studies) shows transparency interventions can work, but no national service programme has rigorous proof of reducing corruption. The design builds measurable integrity outcomes and books zero savings.

It remains a conditional Phase-4 question. Verified data shows 300,000 exceeds the direct-university final-year pool (130,178) by 169,822 students; reaching it requires NU college participation which the baseline funding rule cannot carry. The proposal phases to ~130,000/year and revisits 300,000 only as a separate, explicitly-funded decision.

Yes — the interactive platform demo simulates all six portals with a realistic seeded semester: publish and approve seats, allocate, book students, confirm, mark attendance, evaluate, advance the weeks and issue certificates. It runs entirely in your browser.

The 29-section Formal Proposal, the 16-slide briefing, the full blueprint pages (Concept → Design → Feasibility → Delivery), 41 datasets in the Data Explorer, and the downloadable PDF/XLSX package in Downloads.