THE Technical Education Board, which is meant to update the technical and vocational education curriculum at certain intervals, usually five years, is reported to be going slow in updating the curriculums for a large number of courses that it oversees. The board deals with courses for diploma degrees in engineering, textile engineering, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, livestock, animal health and production, medical technology, tourism and hospitality, technical education and commerce and certificate courses in marine trade, health technology, poultry farming and national competency standards, etc. The previous Awami League government, which was toppled in a mass uprising on August 5, 2024, earlier had plans, which have so far been partially executed, to increase the student enrolment for technical and vocational education to 25 per cent by 2025 and to 30 per cent by 2030. The enrolment rate is now reported to be about 18 per cent, as the board chair says. In such a situation, the problem that has plagued technical and vocational education the most is a constraining shortage of teachers which has held back an effective implementation of technical and vocational education. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board has set aside the national curriculum developed and implemented by the Awami League government after the interim government had been installed on August 8, 2024.
The national curriculum board has for this year gone back to the curriculum that was in force in 2012, with revisions of textbooks and the re-introduction of three secondary-final streams such as science, humanities and commerce and the deployment of examination-based assessment. The interim government in September 2024 announced that it would implement an entirely reworked curriculum beginning in 2026. But officials of the Technical Education Board say that they have yet to be instructed on or informed of the proposed revision of the curriculum by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board. The national curriculum board also admits to not yet having left any instructions for the technical education board in this direction. Technical Education Board officials think that it would mount pressure on them as they would need to work at the greatest pace possible to revise and update the technical and vocational education curriculum for 2026. The national board has also been constrained as it has not been able to reach textbooks to all students although a fortnight has already gone by since the academic year began. Whilst the institutions offering technical and vocational education struggle to get over the shortage of teachers, they should not be further let down with a delayed curriculum revision. The national curriculum board should, therefore, take an early initiative for the revision of the technical and vocational education so that the revised, updated curriculum could be introduced as the next academic session begins and teachers could be adequately trained in the update and changes.
The authorities should, therefore, waste no time in revising the technical and vocational education curriculum, as there is not much time left, and they should attend to the issue of teacher shortage early and effectively.
