Government policymakers will use a database to be made out of findings of a maiden census to upgrade technical education suiting job requirements at home and abroad.
Officials said Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) will conduct the first-ever census on the country's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions 2014-15 on September 01-10 to develop baseline information hub on these institutions.
To this end, BBS signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Skills Development Council (NSDC) under the labour ministry in April last year. The census will cost Tk 58 million.
Although BBS was supposed to complete the census within 10 months, the revised budget and timeline brought change in the deadline.
The census report will be published by next December.
BBS joint director Kabir Uddin Ahmed told the FE that under the programme, listing operation had been completed with the finding of 14,500 TVET institutions across the country.
Registered under 20 ministries and Bangladesh Technical Education Board, these institutions are run in formal and informal sectors under both public and private sectors.
The national statistical bureau carried out the listing up to upazila and mouza level, along with recording the numbers of students and teachers in the TVET institutions.
The objective of the census is to know the type of institutions, ownership, curriculum, number of teachers/trainers and students, lab or workshop facilities, counselling facilities, employment opportunities, internship facilities and obstacles.
On the basis of the findings, an overall updated database on technical and vocational education and training in both rural and urban areas will be prepared.
Mr Kabir said, "It will help the policymakers formulate right policies once they know how many institutions are providing technical and vocational training in how many trades and how many students are there."
Besides, the census results will help improve the physical infrastructure of the TVET institutions and take effective steps to introduce curriculum in the light of nationally and internationally recognized courses relevant to practical needs in the present-day world.
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