Home ›› 25 Oct 2022 ›› Editorial
While the world is reeling from the unfavourable consequences of the Ukraine War, countries, both developed and developing ones, are feeling the pinch: economies are slowing down, businesses get ready for a slump while supply chains become erratic. In such a scenario, all countries are bracing for tough times with strategic approaches to minimise the damage. Bangladesh is no exception since the biggest foreign exchange earner, the RMG industry, will also have to face the consequences of the war in declining work orders with developed nations entering a period of recession.
At such a critical moment, instead of just resigning to fate, more emphasis must be given to technical skill based education to explore and occupy overseas job markets.
With economies shrinking everywhere, manufacturers will begin to look for work force from developing nations, either by employing them to provide net based support or to shift operations to a developing country to cut production expenses.
As per a TBP report, the government is also prioritising expansion of the skill-based technical education, aiming to develop skilled human resources to face the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). According to the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), student enrolment has increased manifolds in the last 12 years. The number of students was 4.73 lakh in 2009 and it stood at 14.63 lakh in 2020.
The student enrolment rate in the country’s technical and vocational institutions now is 17.25 per cent and the government plans to increase the number of students to 30 per cent by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2040.
Alongside men, female students are also now choosing technical education for the opportunities it leads to. Enrolment of female students has increased from 10 per cent in 2009 to 20 per cent in 2020, and their current enrolment rate is 26.71 per cent.
There’s of course valid reason why young people are leaning towards technical education with the first being the demand for skills rather than academic certificates.
The benefits of call centre boom, which began about a decade ago, provided jobs to millions of young educated English speaking youths in South Asia. Majority of young people working at call centres have said that their technical know how supported by fluency in language helped them to switch to better employment after three to five years of experience.
According to the DTE, there are 10,452 public and private technical education institutions, approved by the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, around the country.
Of them, 154 institutions including four engineering colleges, one Technical Teachers Training College, one Vocational Teachers Training Institute, 49 polytechnic institutes and 64 technical schools and colleges are conducting academic activities at diploma and degree levels.
All these create an encouraging picture although it’s prudent to keep in mind that technical education without proper language proficiency can hardly open up doors for employment with multinationals or overseas companies. The truth remains, proficiency in English or any major global language opens up countless doors. Therefore, in addition to technical skill development, adequate stress must be given to language skill improvement.
Bangladeshi workers have made a mark in the international arena through dedication, diligence and conscientiousness; however, they cannot occupy the supervisory roles simply because their communication skills are inadequate. The technical institutes should employ more communication experts, especially those who can help students pick up the contemporary lingo.
The first step can be to open a separate language related cell that will align with the particular skill being imparted. For instance, someone learning car assembling must know the motor lingo.
Also, technical skill related posts which are in mode now like mobile app development, website developer, graphic designer, online marketing specialist, social media expert should be encouraged instead of outdated roles.
