‘Even technical edu failed to produce a skilled workforce’

Despite having a substantial number of technical and vocational educational institutes, the country has failed to produce a skilled and industry-oriented workforce, said officials.

"We have around 10,000 technical institutes in the country but we still have a large gap between their  curricula and industry requirements," Md Masudur Rahman, chairperson of the SME Foundation, told a programme in Dhaka Tuesday.

Industry owners are desperately seeking skilled manpower. But, the country lacks quality technical education, Masudur Rahman, also a Dhaka University professor, told the programme titled "Development of the Technical and Vocational Education System in Bangladesh – Lessons from the German Experience".

It was jointly organised by SME Foundation and German development organisation FES.

Echoing the academician, Md Helal Uddin, director-general of Bangladesh Technical Education Directorate, said that all the technical educational institutes were not performing well.

"We have taken an initiative to categorise them as  A, B, or C grade to properly reflect the quality," he added.

Lack of sufficient internship opportunities is one of the major challenges for technical education graduates, said MA Baqui Khalily, a professor at University of Asia Pacific.

He also pointed out the lack of quality among the certified graduates, low demand for their technical, vocational education and training, lack of modern institutional infrastructure, and low female student enrollment at the institutes were other issues which should be addressed immediately.

"We can apply lessons from Germany that emphasises hands-on training and technical education in mainstream education, rather than separating it," the professor said.

As the chief guest, Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury said the government is working at ensuring quality technical education in Bangladesh.