Home ›› 05 Mar 2022 ›› Front
The standard of technical education in the country is not commensurate to overcome the challenges of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) despite the government initiatives to this end.
Education experts say the government move to deal with the upcoming industrial revolution will fall flat unless major changes are made to technical education that runs traditionally.
They observe that this education lags way behind international standard in terms of curricula, quality, infrastructure and teaching staff shortage – all of which are putting a detrimental effect on the education system and leaving a lot many educated youth unemployed.
Besides, there is also mismatch between the government policy about such education and its reflection in practical field. Even the information from government bodies is also found contradictory in this regard.
General Secretary Shamsur Rahman of the Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB) told The Business Post that the government has taken many projects in technical education, but to no avail. The foundation of this sector needs to be reformed.
“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,” he said.
Education ministry, BANBEIS show contrasting enrolment figure
As part of the government effort to spread technical education across the country and create employment, the Ministry of Education planned to increase 30 per cent enrolment of students in this sector in 2030 and 41 per cent in 2041.
Earlier in 2020, the enrollment rate in technical education was planned to be 20 per cent, but that did not happen.
According to the ministry, 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.
In 2013, the number of students was 90 million. That means the number of students has increased by 40 million over the last several years.
But another government institute – Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) – runs counter to what the education ministry has said about.
According to BANBEIS, there are 6,865 technical education institutes in the country. Of these, 866 are public and 5,999 are private. Only 9 per cent students study in these institutions that suggest that the number of students is below hundred thousand.
In industrialised countries, 73 per cent students study in technical line in Germany while 65 per cent in Japan, 60 per cent in Singapore, 60 per cent in Australia, 55 per cent in China, 50 per cent in South Korea and 48 per cent in Malaysia.
Technical in name only
Education experts have questioned the way technical education is defined in the country. They say the government has created confusion between vocational and technical education.
They also raised questions about some common practices in the name of technical education, asserting that there are 2,626 Business Management (BM) Schools and Colleges under technical education, but in reality, students here are that much skilled in terms of technicality.
Education Minister Dipu Moni expressed dissatisfaction several times over education standard under the Business Management (BM) Schools and Colleges.
She said even though education should be technical in nature, students are not getting any relevant knowledge from these institutions.
Besides, there are 3,000 training centres across the country under Technical Education Board. More than three lakh trainees take short course certificates from there every year.
Preferring to remain unnamed, an official of Technical Education Board admitted that these certificates hardly have any utility.
“We have been saying for a long time that these courses are not that much useful,” he said.
Meeting international standard a far cry
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) conducted a study on technical education in Bangladesh in 1990.
The organisation said the standard of technical education in Bangladesh is not on a par with the international level. Following the UNDP’s recommendation, the government made major changes to technical education in 2001.
In the next 20 years after 2001, there has been little reform to this education system. During this period, revolutionary changes in information technology have taken place all over the world, and the entire world has become a global village with the help of internet technology.
A number of diploma engineers told The Business Post that one of the biggest problems in technical education in Bangladesh is old curriculum which is changed once in five years, but in this long period, the world goes through a paradigm shift in terms of technological change.
Institutions stricken with crisis
Dhaka Polytechnic Institute is the oldest technical education institute in Bangladesh established during the erstwhile Pakistan period. It has lab facility for 360 students.
At present the number of students in this institution has exceeded 10,000. Ironically, the car used for the institute’s automobile engineering education is 60 years old.
At present, there are more than 400 public and private diploma polytechnic institutes in the country according to the Ministry of Education.
The private polytechnic institutes are in disarray facing the worst situation. Many of them do not have adequate equipment, labs and even classrooms. At the district level, there are also allegations of certificate trading against private institutes.
Hard times for technical students
According to a 2019 report of the World Bank, 75 per cent of students in Bangladesh remain unemployed for one year after taking technical education while 32 per cent for two years and 15 per cent for three to five years. Even many do not get the opportunity to apply for a job after graduation.
Employers’ view
There are concerns among employers about technical education in Bangladesh. They say students hardly acquire practical skills even after four-five years of study in their respective fields because the equipment they are being taught to use is not up to date. The employers are not satisfied with the job seekers’ level of knowledge that could be used in the industry.
Still there is hope
The government is going to bring major changes to the technical education curriculum to make the students work-oriented. Initiatives have been taken to set up 329 technical schools and colleges across the country.
Besides, efforts are underway to establish 23 polytechnic institutes, 4 women polytechnic institutes and 4 engineering colleges. More than 4,000 teachers will be recruited this year.
Asked about the teachers’ recruitment, Kamal Hossain, secretary to Technical and Madrasa Department, the Ministry of Education, declined to make any comment on this.
