Public technical institutes across the country are facing an acute shortage of teachers, hindering the technical education seriously. More than 81 per cent posts of teachers and instructors are now lying vacant at these institutes, according to Directorate of Technical Education (DTE).
Students are also deprived of their theoretical and practical education due to a serious shortage of teachers and instructors.
According to DTE, there are only 2,893 teachers out of 15,597 posts at the government technical institutes. It meant that 12,703 posts are now vacant. Apart from this, posts of 6,070 employees are also lying vacant.
A senior official of the Ministry of Education said that the process of recruiting a total of 5,265 teachers, junior instructors and instructors through Public Service Commission is ongoing.
Md Mohsin, Director General at Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), told The Business Post recently that the shortage of teachers is the major barrier to technical education.
“Two projects are underway to increase the capacity of technical educational institutions. The situation will improve in the coming days,” he claimed.
Inadequate class and testing machinery
It is learnt that most of the labs at public and private technical institutes don’t have necessary equipment. Besides, equipment is not up-to-date either. All equipment at some labs is non-functional. Besides, hands-on teaching is not possible at those institutes which have labs and equipment due to a shortage of teachers.
There is a severe shortage of equipment at the laboratory of Jhenaidah Polytechnic Institute. Chief Instructor of this institute Mahbub ul Islam said that a letter has been sent with the demand for necessary equipment for long ago but they have no idea when they will reach. “In fact, our lab activity has remained stuck due to a shortage of equipment.”
Seeking anonymity, a teacher of Magura Polytechnic Institute said that equipment allocated at the beginning of the institute is still being used. “Only equipment used at computer class is up-to-date.”
Kabir Ahmed, instructor at Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute said, “We are facing severe teacher shortage. I have to take class at physics lab. This is difficult for us when students attend class standing at the lab.”
Private institutes’ health is catastrophic
The condition of private technical institutes is worse than public ones. Several polytechnic institutes in Dhaka do not have skilled teachers and modern labs and classrooms. Most of the institutes are running with a small size of building.
The National Institute of Engineering and Technology at Panthapath does not have enough equipment and modern labs. Even though it has a small lab, it does not have necessary equipment. When contacted, branch manager Kabir Hossain declined to make any comment in this regard.
Outdated syllabus
Teachers of several technical institutes complain that technical education syllabus is not being updated. As a result, students are not eligible for the job market.
Nirmal Chandra Sikder, former president of Polytechnic Teachers Association said, “Technology is constantly changing globally, but we are not on that path. We also have a big gap in the link between academy and industry.”
Lack of skills for overseas employment
According to Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), 11.35 lakh workers went abroad in 2022. Of them, only 2.17 lakh were skilled and 82.24 per cent was unskilled.
BUET Professor Mohammad Kaikobad said that the shortfall in overseas employment can be overcome only through technical education. But the main purpose of technical education will not be fulfilled in any way if it is carried out by “clapping hands”.
The DTE said technical education is taught at three levels in the country. These are – HSC Vocational, HSC Business Management, SSC Vocational, Dakhil Vocational and Basic Trade Course); Diploma and Degree level. There are a total of 10,684 institutions--both public and private--where 14.63230 students are studying now.
Mohammad Kaikobad, a former professor at BUET said, “Our technical education is plagued with many problems. It can be said that a lot of digging is going on.”
A dozens of problems are plaguing thousands of public and private technical institutes with huge teacher shortage, insufficient labs and accommodation, quality education and old syllabus.
After completing the degree, education is not matching with professions, no quality education, and no job market as per demand. “I have no perfect word to describe the crisis of technical education,” said Faisal Khan, a former student of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute.
