Improve quality of technical education

The Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR may be defined as an era in which emerging technologies and digitisation are impacting life in an unprecedented and unanticipated manner. According to those in the know, the revolution is poised to change how we experience technology, understand the economy, avail services and do our jobs. In Bangladesh, the government has introduced the concept of Digital Bangladesh, which indeed is a step in the right direction. Having said that, these are times of rapidly evolving technological advances and the authorities have to be flexible, forward-thinking and proactive to prepare Bangladesh to help reap the benefits of 4IR.

Experts cite the lack of skilled human resources as the major stumbling block for Bangladesh regarding achieving the optimum benefit from 4IR. As is well known, there is no shortage of human resources in Bangladesh. The problem is with the skilled part. The country must have a quality technical education in place to upskill our human resources. Unfortunately, this is exactly where the country is lagging behind.

A report published in this daily on Saturday revealed that technical education in Bangladesh leaves a lot to be desired. The report stated that Bangladesh’s education is failing to keep pace with international standards. Shamsur Rahman, the General Secretary of the Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB) told this newspaper “We are lagging behind global benchmark just because of the syllabus and the curricula that play an important role. Besides, 70 per cent of teaching posts remain vacant in diploma institutes. There is no modern lab in classrooms either”. According to the Ministry of Education sources, there are about 10,000 public and private technical institutions, and the current enrolment rate is 18 per cent while the number of students is about 130 million. However, BANBEIS data portrays a different picture. They put the number of educational institutes in Bangladesh at 6,865. The difference in numbers is quite puzzling. And even more bothersome is that the report pointed out both sets of figures is quite misleading. Experts have legitimate concerns about how technical education is defined in the country.

They pointed out that vocational training and technical education are two different things. The report said that 2,626 business management institutes and colleges are categorised as technical educational institutes. But, students graduating from these institutes are not really technically efficient.

We have failed to attract students to technical education. According to the most optimistic estimate, around 18 per cent of Bangladeshi students opt for technical education. While in Germany, for instance, it is 73 per cent. Closer to home the figure is 48 per cent in Malaysia.

The quality of technical education is a cause for serious concern. The report cited The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) study on technical education in Bangladesh in 1990, which stated that the standard of technical education in Bangladesh is not at par with international standards. In the 32 years since the study, the world has advanced rapidly in terms of technical expertise, and Bangladesh has failed to keep pace. Industry owners are desperately seeking skilled manpower. But, the country lacks graduates with quality technical education,

On a more positive note, the report said that the government is going to bring major changes to the technical education curriculum to make the students work-oriented. There are plans to establish 329 technical schools and colleges across the country.

The government’s initiatives to deal with the Fourth Industrial Revolution will fall flat unless major changes are made to conventional technical education. As said earlier, the country stands on the brink of a technological revolution—the Fourth Industrial Revolution—sweeping across the world and will fundamentally alter the way we live and work. To reap the benefits of 4IR, we need to change our mindset regarding so-called higher education and focus more on technical education to create a skilled workforce for the future. The authorities concerned need to take a critical look at the efficacy of Bangladesh’s technical education systems and update them in light of the challenges that our workforce is poised to face.