The Technical and Madrasah Education Division (TMED) of the Ministry of Education has initiated a project to advance technical education and vocational training (TEVT) at an estimated cost
of Tk 24.58 billion.
The project will ensure training for 34,310 technical and vocational teachers through establishing two new technical teachers training colleges (TTTC) in Chattogram and Khulna divisions, expanding and modernising existing TTTC in Dhaka and vocational teachers training institute (VTTI) in Bogura.
The 'TEVT Teachers for the Future (TTF)' project will also offer high-level training and higher study abroad for some 1,235 technical teachers and officials.
The government will provide Tk 8.08 billion from its own resources to implement the project and Tk 16.5 billion to be managed from a concessional loan of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The ADB has consented to provide a $150-million loan to advance Bangladesh's TEVT sector, with some serious observations regarding weakness in some selective core indicators of the sector.
The TMED has sent the Development Project Proposal (DPP) for the project to the planning ministry, said the officials concerned of the education ministry, the planning commission and the Economic Relations Division.
The Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) would implement the project by June 2029, following approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).
Rehana Parvin, member (secretary) of the planning commission, said that the socio-economic division of the planning commission received the DPP and will take further initiative to place it to the ECNEC following meetings of the project evaluation committee (PEC).
She said that upskilling programme for TEVT teachers will play significant role in increasing the quality of technical education and increase employment and income for the next generation.
A high official of the ERD said that the division hosted several meetings of the ADB officials. The ADB confirmed the financing and the terms and conditions of the financing would be finalised through negotiations.
Bangladesh has one of the world's youngest populations, with a rapidly expanding working-age group expected to reach 119 million by 2026, reveals the project document.
It said that a significant portion of this labour force remains unskilled, limiting the country's potential to leverage its demographic dividend.
The ministry's officials said the annual budget for the TMED reached Tk 97.27 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23 with a rise of around 85 per cent just within five years of Tk 52.71 billion in 2017-18.
Whatever, a sharp increase in operational expenditure due to a salary hike and implementation of projects to develop building and other infrastructures pushed the cost exponentially and the non-personnel recurrent budget has only increased at broadly the same rate as inflation.
The proposed project will create a room to increase allocation for education quality, teaching and learning materials, in-service teacher training, vocational teachers training institute and technical teachers training center operation significantly.
The overarching goal of the project is to establish and upgrade teacher training facilities across Bangladesh to meet the demands for fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies and green skills.
The project will help update curricula to cover five technological clusters, including robotics, mechatronics, cyber-security and green skills.
The programme will deliver short-term upskilling and long-term professional development courses to over 34,000 teachers by 2029.
Renovating seven government polytechnic institutes to support teacher training in areas aligned with industrial advancements and fostering research initiatives, including 100 research grants for industry-focused projects.
Bangladesh currently faces a shortage of adequately trained TVET teachers and persistent vacancies in teacher positions and limited intake capacity in training institutions like TTTCs and VTTI hamper progress.
Additionally, the absence of a robust continuous professional development (CPD) system restricts the scope for sustained improvements in teaching quality, the project document also reveals.
While the demand for skilled professionals in emerging industries grows, less than 04 per cent of the working-age population has received formal skills training, it reads.
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