Need for a human resource planning model
Mohammed Hossain | Saturday, 14 June 2008
A nation's greatest resource is its citizens. It is the people who control the destiny of a nation, not its size, armaments, geography or its natural resources. The other factors are important, no doubt, but ultimately it is the people, who by dint of national pride, dedication, discipline, industry and ingenuity, decide the standing of the nation in the global context.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) developed an integrated-thematic approach to human resource development (HRD). Thereby, it provided a capstone to an intellectual legacy that began with ideas put forth by T.W. Shultz and other early human capital theorists. Their ideas and works draw attention to five factors: (a) Human resource development is both a means and ends; (b) means and ends are positively connected because human development leads to increased productivity; (c) in the longer term, human development tends to result in declining population growth due to more information and less pressing felt-needs for children; (d) development within an HRD context can improve environmental protection due to an improved understanding of, and appreciation for, sustainable development, and finally, (e) human development tends to facilitate social and political stability, particularly when it is coupled with some form of procedural democracy.
It is clear that HRD academic theorists and institutional staff professionals call for a national strategy that simultaneously pays attention to growth, equity and participation by workers whose lives are at the center of economic policies. There is no-magic formula via which to pursue these three inter-related aims.
In 1990, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) comprising 21 member economies, mostly developed countries, established the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) to promote the well-being of all people in the region through economic growth and development. HRDWG conducts programmes to develop human resources on issues ranging from education to labour to capacity building. HRDWG priorities include quality basic education; improved labour market information and analysis; enhanced skills in key sectors; lifelong learning; improved curricula, teaching methods, and instructional materials; mobility; enhanced quality, productivity, and efficiency in the labour force. They set three goals for (a) capacity building network (CBN); (b) education network (EDNET); and (c) labour and social protection network (LSPN).
The first goal is to set up the capacity building network to promote human capacity building and strengthen markets through improved productive processes; enterprise productivity and adaptability; management and technical skill development; and corporate governance in the public, private, and voluntary sectors of member economies. The second goal is for setting up the Education Network (EDNET) to foster strong and vibrant learning systems, promote education for all, and strengthen the role of education in promoting social, individual, economic, and sustainable development.
And finally, the third goal is for setting up the labour and social protection network (LSPN) to foster strong and flexible labour market and strengthen social protection, including social safety nets, through evidence-based interventions, collaboration, technical cooperation, and the provision of labour market and social protection information and analysis to address sustainable human resource development.
The reason for citing the above goals is to understand and to follow the themes so that human resource could be developed in Bangladesh in the above framework. In the context of the present structure of Bangladesh's human resource development policy, the government, in my personal opinion, needs to address the issue more precisely and effectively. Bangladesh needs a national policy for human resource development, for which it can follow at least some of the goals of the APEC. And within this framework, Bangladesh's education system, labour market and technical skills have to be updated keeping in mind the demand in global market. Therefore, the government should provide a guideline to the educational institutes to cope with the demand of the country for developing the capacities.
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Based in Qatar, the writer, a Ph.D,
can be reached at Email: hossain_mohammed@hotmail.com)
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) developed an integrated-thematic approach to human resource development (HRD). Thereby, it provided a capstone to an intellectual legacy that began with ideas put forth by T.W. Shultz and other early human capital theorists. Their ideas and works draw attention to five factors: (a) Human resource development is both a means and ends; (b) means and ends are positively connected because human development leads to increased productivity; (c) in the longer term, human development tends to result in declining population growth due to more information and less pressing felt-needs for children; (d) development within an HRD context can improve environmental protection due to an improved understanding of, and appreciation for, sustainable development, and finally, (e) human development tends to facilitate social and political stability, particularly when it is coupled with some form of procedural democracy.
It is clear that HRD academic theorists and institutional staff professionals call for a national strategy that simultaneously pays attention to growth, equity and participation by workers whose lives are at the center of economic policies. There is no-magic formula via which to pursue these three inter-related aims.
In 1990, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) comprising 21 member economies, mostly developed countries, established the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) to promote the well-being of all people in the region through economic growth and development. HRDWG conducts programmes to develop human resources on issues ranging from education to labour to capacity building. HRDWG priorities include quality basic education; improved labour market information and analysis; enhanced skills in key sectors; lifelong learning; improved curricula, teaching methods, and instructional materials; mobility; enhanced quality, productivity, and efficiency in the labour force. They set three goals for (a) capacity building network (CBN); (b) education network (EDNET); and (c) labour and social protection network (LSPN).
The first goal is to set up the capacity building network to promote human capacity building and strengthen markets through improved productive processes; enterprise productivity and adaptability; management and technical skill development; and corporate governance in the public, private, and voluntary sectors of member economies. The second goal is for setting up the Education Network (EDNET) to foster strong and vibrant learning systems, promote education for all, and strengthen the role of education in promoting social, individual, economic, and sustainable development.
And finally, the third goal is for setting up the labour and social protection network (LSPN) to foster strong and flexible labour market and strengthen social protection, including social safety nets, through evidence-based interventions, collaboration, technical cooperation, and the provision of labour market and social protection information and analysis to address sustainable human resource development.
The reason for citing the above goals is to understand and to follow the themes so that human resource could be developed in Bangladesh in the above framework. In the context of the present structure of Bangladesh's human resource development policy, the government, in my personal opinion, needs to address the issue more precisely and effectively. Bangladesh needs a national policy for human resource development, for which it can follow at least some of the goals of the APEC. And within this framework, Bangladesh's education system, labour market and technical skills have to be updated keeping in mind the demand in global market. Therefore, the government should provide a guideline to the educational institutes to cope with the demand of the country for developing the capacities.
......................................................
Based in Qatar, the writer, a Ph.D,
can be reached at Email: hossain_mohammed@hotmail.com)