Urgency of constructing technical institutions

At a time when technical and vocational education is not an option but a sine qua non, two projects given the go-ahead in 2014 and 2020 to develop required infrastructure for students to learn such specialised knowledge and skills could be an answer to youth unemployment. Under one such programme, 100 technical schools and colleges (TSCs) had to be constructed at a cost of Tk 9.24 billion within three years. Its deadline has been extended six times and another extension until June 2027 has been sought. The cost escalation by this time has hit the Tk 25.25 billion mark. Then the other project fares no better. Approved in 2020 at a cost of Tk 205.26 billion, the second project was scheduled to be completed by 2024 but in the past five and a half years it has hardly any progress to show. With a far bigger allocation estimated at 205.26 billion, it is responsible for constructing TSCs in the remaining 339 upazilas. But it has, according to a report carried in the FE on Sunday last, failed to initiate construction of a single TSC and yet the implementing agency has sought rescheduling of the deadline by December 2028.

In a country where annual development programme (ADP) cannot be executed to even a moderately satisfactory rate, this type of bureaucratic fumbling is nothing new. In the past five months (July-November), ADP implementation is below five per cent. Even projects undertaken with a higher share of foreign aid or loan cannot be completed on schedule. Foreign aid is shrinking and in several cases of unexecuted or partially implemented projects, the donors withhold the remaining tranches. In this TSC case, the cost overrun and delays indicate that feasibility study was at fault. As many as 439 TSCs are involved here and before embarking on such massive projects, the plan should have been tested. A pilot project of constructing a number, say five or 10, of TSCs would be a wise choice.

That availability of land has posed a challenge is no excuse for the outrageous delay and cost overrun. A well done feasibility study can determine the fate of any such programmes. The loss of money and time are sure to be staggering but the loss due to a failure to produce technical and skilled hands by this time would be incalculable and far-reaching. By this time several batches of technically sound and skilled youths would have been ready for recruitment by factories, industries or entrepreneurships in different small and medium enterprise (SME) areas.

It is indeed a missed chance for boosting the country's productive sectors and at the same time addressing to a large extent the burgeoning unemployment. That general education is losing importance for the majority of the young generation is clear. Pursuing higher studies should be limited to the exceptionally meritorious students but the general run of students should be imparted technical knowledge with an emphasis on practical classes at the secondary and higher secondary levels. Thus career building for them becomes easier. Even those doing well in technical education can be selected for learning skills for artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workplaces. The set-up given the responsibility for constructing TSCs should be made accountable for making a mess of the two projects. A thorough review should be made and the responsibility shifted to an efficient team.