Human capital imperative: education for employability and innovation

Regarding nation-building, there is little that can be considered more valuable than an able, educated human resource base. For a nation like Bangladesh, which stands at the juncture of demographic opportunities and international economic transformation, its true catalysts of transformation will prove its capacity to produce individuals not merely equipped with ‘degrees’ but with ‘solutions’, ‘creators’, ‘learners’, or ‘multi-taskers’ in the ever-changing global setting. We refer to this as ‘education for employability & innovation’.
What we refer to as employability is the preparedness of graduates to undertake worthwhile work, respond appropriately to work dynamics, and contribute meaningfully to employers, entrepreneurs and society. What we refer to as innovation is the application of creativity, proactive initiative, new knowledge, the challenging of the status quo, or value-added ventures in non-routine endeavours. In the context of Bangladesh, the twin challenges of employability and innovation certainly cannot be considered an add-on.
The current issue presents a discussion on how the landscape of education in Bangladesh can be developed following global best practices of employment skills, taking into consideration the enhancement of the status of private universities, the establishment of a particular form of higher education commission, as well as the incorporation of newer subjects like AI design thinking into the education system. Against this backdrop, it is pertinent to consider how Bangladesh can ensure that its younger population is not left behind in the knowledge-driven global economy.
Reality Check: From Expansion to Employability
There has been considerable progress in improving access levels. However, the rate of progress from levels of access or excellence to employability or innovation is inadequate. There is an ever-growing number of graduates with knowledge of facts rather than critical thinking or creativity. It is no longer a fringe issue. It is an institutional problem that affects every educational institution.
Expansion of Higher Education, with Quality Inequalities
There has been a rapid expansion, led by the proliferation of private schools. More locations will be created, though this is not always an indicator of improvement. There could be a narrowed range of studies, an erratic pattern of control, or an outdated programme of studies. Public schools will face challenges related to obsolete curricula, inadequate assessment of faculty effectiveness, and insufficient graduates prepared to meet the technologies of the modern workplace.
Skill mismatches and employability issues
There is a strong demand from employers for technological literacy, problem-solving skills, an entrepreneurial spirit, teamwork abilities, communication skills and entrepreneurship. There is a lack of use of the concepts learned by graduates, which implies that there is insufficient time for implementing reforms that will ensure the development of higher-order skills. Technical-vocational education and training have regained relevance in the labour market despite weaknesses in infrastructure, approaches and the quality of work.
Private Universities: A Catalyst for Change
Private universities occupy a unique place in Bangladesh’s higher education landscape. They have grown swiftly, respond quicker to market signals, and can foster curricular innovation. The next phase requires them to shift from capacity providers to quality-focused drivers of employability and creativity.
Expansion & Accessibility
The private sector has been able to absorb much of the individual demand for tertiary education that the public sector did not meet. For most individuals, most of whom are first-generation university attendees, private institutions of higher learning often provide the easiest access to the tertiary sector, leading to careers in the community as professionals.
Strengths: Flexibility, Market Orientation
As they are not constrained by existing infrastructure, private schools can introduce new courses more quickly, update their curricula in line with industry developments, or partner with corporations for internships, guest lectures, or live projects. They can soon develop into specialties like AI, data science, or design thinking, among others, which will suit various socio-economic classes.
Issues: Quality, Relevance and Regulation
The pace of this sector can also cause inequities in quality. There may be a lack of rigor, teacher development, research focus, student services, or openness and transparency on the part of some of these institutions. The rule of law could be trailing innovation, casting some institutions into doubt about quality while inhibiting innovation. There is a need to progress by celebrating excellence while eliminating mediocrity.
Opportunities: Becoming Innovation Hubs
If they can uphold a clear vision, private schools can be drivers of innovation for the nation. Interdisciplinary courses can integrate business, technology and service. Capstone courses and flipped classrooms can apply classroom-learned concepts to practice. Incubators and accelerators can develop concepts into businesses. International partnerships can benchmark excellence by the best practices of the global community. The question is: how can the university achieve this flexibility without undermining its integrity – freedom on the one hand and responsibility on the other?
Institutional Reform: Towards a Higher-Education Commission
Quality begins with governance. The existing governance framework in Bangladesh, which governs regulatory issues, must transform in light of the complexities of higher education in the twenty-first century. There can be an independent higher education commission that will ensure the quality of higher education.
The Case for an Independent Commission
The commission would cover improving associations’ design, setting educational standards, ensuring quality supervision, addressing accreditation issues, promoting innovation, and encouraging collaboration. The commission will bring an end to unnecessary work and fragmentation of policies and will offer a strong anchor for policies on funding and strategy.
Functions and Responsibilities
The commission shall develop national standards for teaching and learning based on global best practices, as well as for faculty development. It shall ensure positive engagement between education and industry by establishing standardised work-integrated learning, internships, and apprenticeships, using common measures of employability. The accreditation standards will not be vague, as they will be data-driven and supported by validated quality assurance models. The commission shall enable an intelligent framework for learning analytics and make possible interdisciplinary education programmes, teaching pedagogy based on research, international engagement, best practices of governance and best practices in admission.
Autonomy with Accountability
There is a need for an enabling environment of responsibility and innovation on the part of universities. The commission’s role will be to provide autonomy on the one hand and responsibility on the other. The buzzword will be ‘transparency’, with enhanced dashboard spots for employability, skills, innovation, etc.
Financing and Resource Mobilisation
There will be a need to finance the reforms. Public funding of higher education will need incremental funding, as shared approaches could encompass tuition charges, employer engagement, research awards, philanthropic giving, or university funding from executive education, consultancy, or intellectual property. The commission can help structure incentives that fund excellence, collaboration or outcomes.
Unless institutions are transformed, campuses will remain siloed entities, courses will remain unchanged, employees will not be able to upskill, and graduates will remain ill-prepared for the rapidly shifting world of work. The best commission can do is make employability and innovation institutional imperatives by turning desires into expectations.
Curriculum & Pedagogy - Embedding Skills of Employability & Innovation
The transformation of human capital starts with what we understand and how we understand that. For Bangladesh, this entails remade curricula with a focus on the future and remade pedagogies.
What is taught: as per global & national needs
Digital readiness and AI literacy must become the new normal in every discipline. The proposed education programme must introduce students to data analytics, machine learning, cloud computing, cybersecurity, or digital business models, enabling graduates to operate, manage, or lead technology-driven work environments efficiently. More critically important, though, is fostering an innovative mindset from design or systems thinking backgrounds, enabling graduates to understand users and customers, create prototypes, deliver rapid iterations, and scale successful outcomes. The world will focus on hybrid knowledge domains, which will be convergence points for domains like business/AI ethics or engineering/sustainability/social innovation. Purpose education will also become mainstream, including concepts of social business, SDG focus, engagement, and ethics in the overall education programme, enabling students not only to create job opportunities but also to make an impact. The overall architecture of learning will thus be aligned with industry needs or global best practices through internships, capstones, or challenges, not as afterthoughts.
Pedagogy and delivery: how it is taught
Rote learning will give way to active learning. Team projects, case studies, lab/hackathons, industry visits, or startup incubators can transform the classroom into a lab. Blended learning models such as MOOCs, micro-credentials, and collaboration tools can provide greater access. Learning analytics can help institutions identify struggling students earlier, offer them personalised help, and push them towards optimal learning strategies. Staff development will be essential. Educators will have to be lifelong learners with experience with best practices in learning/facilitation technology, industry partnerships, and research. The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on Campus, including Makerspaces, Networking, and Access to Investors, will help turn ideas into businesses. Internationalisation through mobility programmes, twin degree programmes, or research partnerships can provide access to the world’s best practices or partnerships from other countries, thus improving employability.
Measuring progress: employability and innovation key indicators
The reforms can be evaluated using key indicators such as the percentage of graduates in jobs one year after graduation, the median salary of graduates, employers’ satisfaction, the number of startups formed, the number of patents applied for, industry partnerships, publications, citations, accreditation, and student satisfaction. The release of information sparks competition among institutions to achieve a positive outcome.
Policy Reform
The implementation of visions requires the involvement of all — government, institutions of higher learning, industry, and society. Some of the issues addressed below can help create a roadmap.
Government and Regulators
The first step would be the formation or reformation of an existing body in higher education with the sole purpose of setting standards, accrediting programmes, or funding outcomes. The second step will be an increase in public funding of higher education. For this purpose, hybrid funding models can be devised that provide an impetus for excellence. Evaluations or standard-setting of faculty members will be the third step regarding faculty engagement with best practices in time management, networking, IT, or industry partnerships. Industry partnerships will become more prevalent in work-integrated learning. The fourth step will be engagement with curricular changes, with a focus on incorporating AI, design thinking, or social innovation. The fifth step will involve using national sources of information. The sixth step will entail international partnerships.
Private Universities
There needs to be an RTE cycle of rapid curricular renovation in private colleges, making it an inherent practice. They need to invest in faculty development, research infrastructure, analytics tools and innovation spaces. Makerspaces, labs and incubators would help. Better relations with industry will benefit planning, course design and capstone project outcome measurement. There is adequate follow-through on student outcomes, which will automatically ensure better integrity. The overall environment of creativity, innovation and socially responsive engagement will ensure that students do not act as mere passive recipients of information. The most significant aspect will be the integrity of governance through self-evaluation, accreditations, and an emphasis on outcomes.
Public Universities
There will be an urgent need for a paradigm shift in public institutions from the conventional lecture-based mode of learning to learning by doing, driven by industry/community needs. Research can then be defined and positioned in line with the national development agenda. Interdisciplinary research institutes will be well-positioned to synthesise multiple disciplines, such as engineering, business, social science, sustainability, and information technology, and to offer potential strategies to address complex issues. Industry or foreign university partnerships will provide a paradigm-shifting force.
Employers and Industry
Industry can help by collaborating on curriculum design, funding internships or apprenticeships, providing mentorship, or supporting project work in a real-world environment. They can fund or provide resources for up-skilling in AI, Digital Business, or Design Thinking. They can develop the sets of competencies that will determine the design of university programme outputs in the next three to five years. The industry can help universities develop research outputs into products or services. This can be achieved through research partnerships, research testbeds, or early-stage commercialisation.
Students and Civil Society
The students will need to commit to a philosophy of learning, flexibility, and openness to realise that skills acquired in this decade will become outdated in the next. Participation in hackathon projects, startup ventures, social businesses, exchange programmes, or interscholastic learning will help develop nimbyism. The involvement of society will be equally crucial in scouting institutions that provide transparent information on placement, remuneration, course applicability, and faculty qualifications. Moreover, societies will seek policies of inclusiveness for women, rural communities and minorities.
Conclusion: The Promise of Human Capital Fulfilled
Bangladesh stands at a crossroads. The country has a younger population, an evolving economy, and strategic positioning. However, human capital will make all the difference in this unique opportunity, whether brief or sustained. The number of higher qualifications attained will not be more critical than adaptability, creativity, or imagination. What is unfolding requires an overall metamorphosis. The role of governance must be transformed with a strong commission and better funding. The curriculum needs to be interconnected, technology-driven, and relevant. Learning approaches need to emphasise application, networking and innovation. The landscape must engage universities, business enterprises, investors and the global community. Universities that are more entrepreneurial or adaptable will be significant, as they are granted greater autonomy along with responsibility. Public universities will require an overall transformation, and the role of employers will be vital in this regard. Students must understand themselves as the designers of their own destiny.
If education itself can be repositioned from a concept of ‘degree attainment’ to ‘preparedness for employability and innovation,’ then Bangladesh can move from ‘catch-up excellence’ to ‘leadership excellence in subjects of emphasis,’ from ‘labour-intensive models of growth’ to ‘knowledge-intensive models of value addition,’ and from ‘followers of global excellence’ to ‘actors on the global stage.’ This not only ensures a ‘vision,’ it actually becomes an ‘imperative.’ The alternative is a future of low-skill, insecure jobs unconnected with innovation. The vision is a future of empowered graduates, invigorated enterprises, thriving innovation and startup sectors, and a nation whose greatest comparative advantage is its human capital.
Looking both into the rearview mirror at past achievements and through the windshield at the upcoming frontier, it is clear that human capital is the common denominator of all national priorities - from trade to health, from technology to every aspect of societal development. Human capital, or its absence, determines whether progress is merely skin-deep or truly significant. For Bangladesh’s vision of progress, it is all a matter of cultivating thinking minds capable of inspiring action and policies capable of producing graduates ready to enter the workplace unfettered by the constraints of innovation. The problem of human capital must therefore be addressed.

The writer is a professor and former chair of the department of journalism and mass communications at Savannah State University, Savannah, GA, USA
sibhuiyan@yahoo.com