Key challenges of studying public administration in developing countries: An exploration from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT In this article, we explored the challenges of PA education in developing countries. Based on interviews in two developing countries (Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), we identified a number of challenges that fall under two broader umbrellas: teaching-related and research-related challenges. The teaching-related challenges include the problem with curriculum, materials, teaching methods, student-teacher ratio, and the scope of capacity building. On the other, we identified several research-related challenges such as funding, data availability, research training, and access to software. These problems are creating barriers to having a quality PA education in the sampled countries. Though the findings are based on two developing countries, most of the problems identified here may also be applicable to other developing countries. And some of the identified strategies in the article can also be beneficial for other developing countries to have a better PA education.