Job-oriented education is needed

According to media reports the Department of Youth Development (DYD) has implemented various uplift schemes involving more than Tk 6.15 crore for making youths self-reliant through income-generating activities during the last 10 years in the district. This indeed is a step in the right direction. Investment in vocational education will be a great boon to the economy by improving the quality of human resources available. It will enable businesses to hire better skilled personnel and also increase the earning power of a significant segment of the population. Bangladesh is in dire need of workers with vocational skills, such as nurses, electricians, plumbers and IT technicians. Investment in these types of skills has great potential to accelerate the country’s development and should be prioritised by the government.

As a country that also exports a large amount of manpower, we have compelling reasons to improve the availability and quality of vocational training. Sending better-trained workers abroad will increase the amount of remittance income the country receives. Provision of vocational education is usually less expensive than the cost of university education. On the other hand, the return from such an investment is likely to be enormous.

Unfortunately there is a general perception among many people, especially among our young generation, that higher education is the only way to become a member of the skilled workforce. But as we move towards becoming a middle-income country, we need to change our mindset regarding university education or so-called higher education, and focus more on technical and vocational education to create a skilled workforce for the future.

As experts in a recent roundtable have said, there is also no alternative to technical and vocational education to achieve the SDGs. Unemployment is a big problem in Bangladesh as a large number of university and college graduates find it really hard to enter the job market due to a lack of practical skills. But with proper vocational training, they can easily become a part of the skilled workforce. There is also a perception in our society that such jobs are only for the less affluent. This stereotype must be broken and practical skills must be prioritised. Only then can we achieve the SDG8, which is about "decent work for all."

 

Job-oriented education is needed

According to media reports the Department of Youth Development (DYD) has implemented various uplift schemes involving more than Tk 6.15 crore for making youths self-reliant through income-generating activities during the last 10 years in the district. This indeed is a step in the right direction. Investment in vocational education will be a great boon to the economy by improving the quality of human resources available. It will enable businesses to hire better skilled personnel and also increase the earning power of a significant segment of the population. Bangladesh is in dire need of workers with vocational skills, such as nurses, electricians, plumbers and IT technicians. Investment in these types of skills has great potential to accelerate the countrys development and should be prioritised by the government. As a country that also exports a large amount of manpower, we have compelling reasons to improve the availability and quality of vocational training. Sending better-trained workers abroad will increase the amount of remittance income the country receives. Provision of vocational education is usually less expensive than the cost of university education. On the other hand, the return from such an investment is likely to be enormous. Unfortunately there is a general perception among many people, especially among our young generation, that higher education is the only way to become a member of the skilled workforce. But as we move towards becoming a middle-income country, we need to change our mindset regarding university education or so-called higher education, and focus more on technical and vocational education to create a skilled workforce for the future. As experts in a recent roundtable have said, there is also no alternative to technical and vocational education to achieve the SDGs. Unemployment is a big problem in Bangladesh as a large number of university and college graduates find it really hard to enter the job market due to a lack of practical skills. But with proper vocational training, they can easily become a part of the skilled workforce. There is also a perception in our society that such jobs are only for the less affluent. This stereotype must be broken and practical skills must be prioritised. Only then can we achieve the SDG8, which is about decent work for all.