Take effective steps to increase employability of students: Education minister to VCs

Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury has called upon the vice-chancellors of universities to take effective initiatives to increase the employability of students of the country's higher education institutions.

"Education and research are important in implementing the development goals of the government. But, our students lag behind other countries in employability," the minister said at the signing ceremony of Annual Performance Agreement (APA) of Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) with 47 public universities.

"The universities of the country need to directly connect students with the economy and social system of the country along with subject knowledge, providing them with skills useful for the workplace," he added.

Mohibul Hasan advised the newly established public universities to start educational programmes by affiliating the government colleges of the district. He also called for the development of necessary educational infrastructure including academic monitoring to increase the quality of education at the undergraduate level of the affiliated colleges. 

He also suggested diversifying the curriculum in universities, creating academic master plans with faculty, sharing lab and infrastructure facilities, mandatory publication of research results and introducing its own ranking system. 

"Basic digital literacy, soft skills, language and communication skills through career centres are also important," said the education minister.

Speaking at the event, UGC Chairman (Additional Charge) Professor Dr Professor Muhammad Alamgir said the implementation of APA agreement is very important for quality education, upgradation of research, innovation, building bridges with industrial institutions and increasing cooperation with foreign educational and research institutions.