Home ›› 20 Oct 2022 ›› Front
Technical and vocational education in Bangladesh is gradually gaining popularity because it leads to better job opportunities at home and abroad for students from this background.
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.
DTE data shows that there were 4,73,537 students in the country in 2009; 5,41,656 in 2010; 5,88,081 in 2011; 7,44,778 in 2012; 8,54,152 in 2013; 9,14,717 in 2014;10,38,820 in 2015; 10,56,287 in 2016; 11,68,745 in 2017; 12,62,761 in 2018; 13,87,691 in 2019; and 14,63,230 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.
Education Ministry sources said the government has also taken an initiative to introduce a technical subject compulsorily from sixth to 10th grades in schools and madrasahs and it may start next year.
Job market
Sector people say that the job market is now putting more importance on skills since there is a high demand for skilled workers in the public and private sectors both here and abroad.
Talking to The Business Post, Barishal Polytechnic Institute Principal Md Ruhul Amin said that technical education is now attracting more students because there are lots of scopes for government jobs and in other industries, including the apparel sector, with smart salaries and benefits.
“At least 50-60 per cent of students are getting jobs within six months of completion of their diploma engineering course while students from general education background wait for a long time to get a job,” he said.
He said, “At least 85 per cent of technical students find jobs after graduating while the rest become entrepreneurs in this sector or go abroad for higher studies.”
The country’s remittance inflow will increase three to four times if the Bangladeshi labourers go abroad after receiving technical education, Amin added.
Sector people said many developed countries have boosted their economies riding on technical manpower. More students should be brought into technical education considering the high demand and the job market.
Shamsur Rahman, the general secretary of the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB), said the enrolment rate in technical and vocational education is 55 per cent in China, 65 per cent in Singapore, 66 per cent in Japan, 75 per cent in Germany, 60 per cent in Australia, 50 per cent in South Korea, and 46 per cent in Malaysia.
Bangladesh government’s initiatives to develop technical education aim to tackle the 4IR challenges but they are being implemented very slowly, he said.
13 lakh students at 10,452 institutions
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.
Currently, there are 19,693 teachers and employees working in 2,136 MPO-listed institutions under DTE. There are a total of 26,349 posts in all technical and vocational institutions, schools and colleges under DTE. Also, 12,607 new posts have been created for the existing state-run technical institutions.
A total of 13,87,691 students are currently studying at technical educational institutions across the country. Of them, there are 2,200 students in four engineering colleges and 3.38 lakh Diploma-in-Engineering students in public and private polytechnic institutes.
Moreover, 3,79,381 students are studying at SSC (Vocational) and Dakhil (Vocational) levels in government technical schools and colleges and private vocational institutions; 14,962 students at HSC (Vocational) level; 3,81,611 students at HSC (BM) level; and 2,72,849 students are undergoing training at short-course level.
DTE is also providing necessary training to the teachers, officers and employees for capacity building. As of December 2019, about 2,000 people have been trained in Singapore and 581 teachers and staff have received training in China.
In 2017, 2018 and 2019, a total of 832 students went for diploma-level studies at various technical educational institutions in China under the country’s government-sponsored TVET Scholarship.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government is gearing up to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and has adopted an action plan to increase student enrolment in technical and vocational education to 30 per cent by 2030.
Challenges
DTE’s vision is ensuring quality technical and vocational education and its mission is producing skilled human resources through the expansion and upgradation of said education.
However, there are some problems, which include infrastructural, lab and teacher crises in the technical education sector. There is also a link missing between the industry and technical institutions to ensure further development.
IDEB General Secretary Shamsur told The Business Post that technical education is getting priority all over the world as the lion’s share of global employment now depends on skilled human resources.
After clearing HSC exams, a limited number of students get to pursue higher studies at medical and engineering institutions but the rest, which is a huge number of students, get admitted to bachelor courses. They may successfully complete graduation and post-graduation but many of them do not get jobs due to a lack of technical skills, he said.
He added, “We still see that many students with a master’s degree are now applying for fourth-class government jobs. They also end up entering such jobs only to escape their struggle in finding employment.”
Nowadays, a diploma engineer can apply for and get a second-class government job soon after completing his education as multinational organisations, mills and factories are appointing them with attractive salaries and benefits, said Shamsur.
If diploma engineers go abroad, they will get jobs with salaries that are three to four times higher than what the unskilled labour force earns, he added.
He said the technical education percentage is around 50-75 per cent in developed countries. “There is no alternative to having more students in the technical education institutions in the ear of technology.”
10 projects underway
The government currently has 10 projects ongoing that aim to expand technical education in the country.
A Tk 20,525.69 crore project, named “Establishment of 329 Technical Schools and Colleges at Upazila Level,” was initiated in January 2020 in a bid to create more skilled manpower.
This “star project” of the government is in its second phase now.
In the first phase in 2014, another project was launched to establish 100 technical schools and colleges in 100 upazilas across the country. So far, only 70 institutions have been built while the project tenure was extended thrice.
In 2018, a Tk 3,691.30 crore project was launched to establish polytechnic institutes in 23 districts. Another project named “Capacity Building for Existing 64 Technical Schools and Colleges” started in 2019.
A Tk 1,222.39 crore project to establish an engineering college each in Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions is also ongoing. Another Tk 278.85 crore project to develop land survey education is underway.
The government also has three other projects — “Skills 21: Empowering Citizens for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth” (2018), “Improvement of Technical Education for Industrial Human Resources Development” (2020), and “Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation” (2021) — that are being implemented.
