The Citizen鈥檚 Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh on Tuesday proposed to form a high level committee for the modernisation of technical education.
It also said that Bangladesh must prepare for producing high quality workers and mid-level professionals to meet the demand for future investors.
鈥極verall, the government has formed 11 different commissions but this government which has been formed through a student-led mass uprising has not worked on education,鈥� said Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow and convener of the platform Debapriya Bhattacharya, adding, 鈥榯his is one of our national failures.鈥�
At a media briefing, he also said that the government needs to reform the technical and vocational education sector immediately for meeting the demands of the advancing world.
In the forthcoming budget the government should increase the allocation for technical education. Also during the next national election campaign, political parties must emphasise technical education in their electoral manifestos, he added.
The briefing titled 鈥楾echnical and vocational education in Bangladesh: present situation and reform ideas鈥� was held at the CPD office in the capital on the day.
Earlier on March 23, the platform sent its proposal on formation of a high level committee for technical and vocational education reform to education adviser professor Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar.
Debapriya said that till now there was no response to the proposal.
鈥業n Bangladesh the worst example of discrimination, biasness and negligence is technical and vocational education,鈥� he said and added that the government seemed reluctant about solving the ongoing movement of the polytechnic students.
He mentioned that in 2023鈥�24 fiscal year, 1.7 per cent of the budget was allocated for education, but only 1.4 per cent was utilised.
The CPD distinguished fellow said that of the 1.4 per cent of the budget that was used, only 4.4 per cent was spent for technical education.
In countries like India, Korea, Japan, United States, Mexico and Brazil skilled workforces produced by technical education system played a significant role, a reality that Bangladesh had yet to realise, he further said.
He said that pervasive social attitude that technical education was a carpenter producing factory was to principally blame for the situation.
CPD distinguished fellow and the platform鈥檚 core group member Professor Mustafizur Rahman stressed that the country was in a great need of skilled labourers and mid-level professionals to meet the demands of the potential foreign investors in the future.
The platform in its proposal to the education adviser said that the committee should be formed with eligible professional teachers, experts and researchers to prepare a clear outline for the technical and vocational education reform and training activities.
Referring to the government statistics, the platform mentioned that the country in 2023 had 1,023 technical and vocational educational institutions and in 2022 there were 18,858 teachers and 4,60,045 students.聽
Citizen鈥檚 Platform network focal point Tarannum Jinan and CPD research associates Shourza Talukder and Naima Jahan Trisha, dialogue associate Rifat Bin Aowlad and research intern Maliha Rahman were also present at the briefing.
