Technical and Vocational Education | Articles on Education of Bangladesh | Articles on Education of Bangladesh

GAZI MAHBUBUL ALAM, PhD

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Bangladesh needs to plan its upcoming Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme to get the best out of it for the people. It has to be cautious to be able to avoid a situation in which the programme turns unproductive while the nation will require to take the extra burden of loans.

Bangladesh should be able to utilise the TVET programme, supported by International Labour Organisation (ILO), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, to train the young to raise the skilled and entrepreneurial workforce the country needs to create wealth for overcoming poverty. Designed correctly the programme would prepare the population for sustained gainful employment.

The coming five to seven years will be a period of TVET in Bangladesh with three major TVET projects implemented by ILO, ADB and WB, in operation. Moreover, a number of small projects will continue. Considering these, cautious steps are required from the beginning to avoid getting into a danger. Providing TVET requires more funds than general education. Any mismatch and overlapping of TVET and misutilisation of fund for it will land the country into large long-term obligations on account of loans, to be provided by the ADB and WB. Bangladesh will, however, need to reform its TVET project.

There is a fresh awareness among policy-makers in the countries in South Asia and the international donor community of the critical role that TVET can play in national development. The increasing importance that government of Bangladesh now attaches to TVET is reflected in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers prepared by it in collaboration with the multilateral donor organisations. Being work-oriented, the TVET curriculum emphasises the need for acquisition of employable skills. It seeks to train people to raise the skilled and entrepreneurial workforce that Bangladesh needs to create wealth to be able to emerge out of poverty. TVET institutions can respond to the different training needs of learners from different socio-economic and academic backgrounds, and prepare them for gainful employment and sustainable livelihoods. The TVET should benefit to the youth, the poor and the vulnerable of the society.

A number of international donors and partners for developments have recently put a special emphasis on helping Bangladesh government in order to improve its TVET sector. ILO's TVET reforms project is in operation, while identical projects of ADB and World Bank are about to come. Although ILO project is a grant receiving one, the projects of ADB and WB will be operated under loan provision. Global patterns always show that the target groups comprising students for VET education are mostly from the underprivileged background. As a result, formulation and moderation of a TVET policy always receives lesser priority. Although, the work undertaken by well-qualified VET graduates often makes better contribution to GDP, the organization under which the work is done and the country as whole prove to be more productive. Payment issue for VET graduates is a neglected one. This attitude always motivates students and their sponsors against VET education.

A positive association between educational attainment and individual earnings has been well-established and verified by many studies. In spite of this extensive investigation, however, the cause and effect relationships underlying the association are not well-understood. More specifically, one might question whether only formal education leads to higher earning potential or whether vocational training might have a similar effect. In the analysis below, this scribe presents some arguments about the impact of vocational training on the earning potential of participants with different levels of formal education. Hopefully, increased understanding of the interrelationships between vocational training and formal education will assist educational and government planners who are currently attempting to formulate policies in this area.

We could imagine a world in which income was determined solely by social status and where education thus raised individual earnings for purely sociological reasons. In the real world we can observe arbitrary levels of formal education required for entry to a wide variety of jobs, without much reference to job characteristics or performance. Similarly, arbitrary promotion of workers to higher levels of pay and responsibility on the basis of educational attainment no doubt occurs, thus reinforcing these artificial entrance requirements. At the extreme, one could imagine education is enhancing income solely by improving prestige and a cleverly forged high school diploma, CPA certificate, medical degree, or plumber's license. This is as effective as the same credential earned through long apprenticeship or expensive study. However, most economists will feel much more comfortable at imagining a contrasting social order in which economic productivity plays a larger role than social prestige in determining income. In this world, well-trained plumbers, doctors, and accountants will receive higher incomes than imposters because of their higher marginal revenue productivity. The market mechanism will tend to produce this result by the elimination of inefficient firms, so that hiring prestigious incompetents will prove self-destructive and short-lived. The data will allow to conclude this article, but for the moment let us assume that economic productivity determines income.

A number of donors and partners for developments have recently put especial attention to help Bangladesh government in order to improve its technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector. ILO's reforms project is in operation. The target groups of students for TVET education are from underprivileged background. Qualified TVE graduates contribute to GDP and make the organisation and country to be more productive, payment issue of VET graduates is a neglected issue. This attitude discourages students and their sponsors not to acquire VET education.

According to authorities, large communities frequently have separate public schools devoted to specific occupational fields, and some counties and states sponsor regional vocational training establishments. These public schools work closely with interested industries and trades in establishing curricula and in guidance programs. The cooperative training technique, in which students work part-time in the job for which they are preparing, is a common feature of these schools. Community colleges often provide vocational training courses. Many industries have instituted extensive vocational education programs for their employees, and virtually all trades require apprenticeship and/or on-the-job training.

Academics in vocational training have emphasised that its aim is to improve the worker's general culture as well as to further his or her technical training. That policy is evident in the academic requirements of public vocational schools and in the work of public continuation and evening schools. Various academic courses are provided so that workers who have not completed the public school requirements may do so while engaged in regular jobs. In some localities attendance at continuation schools is compulsory for those who are of school age. While continuation and evening schools are often primarily vocational, they frequently include general courses that attract older workers.