What we need to change Higher Education and TVET of Bangladesh?
I am preparing a report on a recommendation to develop the Labour market framework and the actors in the field. It will be around 40 pages. It’s a highly informative document. So, I need to continuously upgrade it and targeted to publish in November 2022. This document will have recommendations on framework conditions, demand side, supply side, and labor market matching, but in the meanwhile, I like to suggest educational recommendations for higher education and vocational education. Note that this document will be updated in the development process.
To properly link higher-education outcomes to labor-market opportunities, a career-guidance strategy should be implemented based on robust labor-market information. To this end, I recommend the following specific interventions:
- A career-guidance strategy should be developed based on input from the private sector. While this process can be led by the Relevant Ministry, it will require the establishment of reliable private-sector input channels. In this Input Channel, the Industry Skills Council (ISC)s will play-act a role in skill-related inputs. International organizations could provide technical support in the development of this strategy, as well as capacity-building support for the different parties involved (including educational institutions) during implementation. The government, should formalize the strategy and ensure that it is communicated to all relevant stakeholders.
- Policies and practices must ensure that career-guidance services take the best interests and need both of students and the national economy into consideration. Furnished with information and advice from the private sector, the Government could be expanded into a youth job center that works directly with schools, colleges, training institutes, and universities, building upon the entity’s current youth employment program. Universities and training institutions could hold regular job conferences and fairs that help new labor-market entrants make considered career choices. The government could ensure that these measures are enforced in all educational institutions.
Both the quality and the public perception of vocational education and training need to be addressed to increase demand for such services and to ensure that graduates will be competent actors in the labor market. This will require efforts from actors in the public, private and civil society sectors. In this regard, I like to make the following recommendations:
- The efficiency of the public TVET system should be enhanced by ensuring that funds are allocated to necessary tasks, including the provision of training materials, and by minimizing expenditure in costly areas that achieve limited results. This would require the NSDA to review the current organization and structure of TVET and to consolidate the number of TVET institutions. I like also recommended reducing the number of TVET institutes to better reflect the actual number of students. And the Institutes, The NSDA could additionally establish regulations ensuring that classes have a minimum of 15 students. And also allow courses registration according mostly to local economic needs not national wide. It will help to manage local economic development. Government should create some regulations on it. International organizations could provide technical support in achieving this strategy.
- Awareness campaigns regarding the importance and potential of TVET should be implemented. These should be targeted campaigns. Messages directed at employers should underscore the importance of decent salaries and working conditions to make technical jobs more attractive; those directed at families and their children should highlight the importance and potential of technical education as compared to higher education, whether for employment in Bangladesh or abroad. Specific success stories could be selected and highlighted. This could be implemented by the NSDA, with financial and technical support from international organizations.
- TVET institutions and providers should provide academic and career counseling. While the work of the NSDA, third-party institutions, could ensure that career-counseling programs are furnished with proper strategies and robust information, the creation of nationwide TVET job centers and career development centers could also support this endeavor.
- The private sector should take a more active role in the development of TVET curricula and programs. NSDA can support TVET-promotion efforts by providing advice, defining needs, and raising awareness. A Committee can be established As Education and Skill Committee (ESC) could serve as the lead actor in this process, providing a platform for collaboration between the private, public, and civil society sectors. The private sector should also be directly involved in developing a TVET certification system based on actual labor-market needs.
- Industrial Revolution 4 (IR4) requires infrastructure for trade curriculum and training providers . Because this will be expensive training, training institutes must launch small-investment courses such as Data Science, IoT, electronics, and some extended mechanical to line with industry needs. Local major private industries can play an important role in this process. It can be funded by donors.
- Bangladesh Qualification Framework (BQF) is a commendable government project. However, some adjustments are required to comply with international merging. To do so, we should compare and collaborate with countries in South Asia and the Middle East to build and implement an aligned framework. My recommendation is that we focus on Diploma timing and content, as well as combining with Bachelor and MSC.
Thank you for taking the time to read the recommendation. Let us collaborate for a better structured Bangladesh for a better Bangladesh.
Khan Mohammad Mahmud Hasan
TVET, Career Development and Project Management Expert
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