Right education, creation and retention of HR
Sunday, 23 March 2008
THE investments in education are considered as social investments which pay off by meeting the major prerequisite -- the availability of an educated or literate workforce with varied skills for successful application in different forms of economic activities -- of sustained growth. Economists everywhere are unanimous in their view these days that governmental higher spending on the right type of education can work as the most effective spurs or catalysts to hasten economic growth. The bigger objective of building human resources in support of economic growth also vitally requires the government's participatory role through building and running of institutions to impart skill training for different occupations. Furthermore, such training has to be upgraded to meet the needs of modern production methods, lending support to private initiatives in human resource (HR)-building through fiscal measures, retraining of workers to fit the changing nature of employment, etc.
The government in Bangladesh is apparently seen as actively engaged in HR development. But its performance in this sphere leaves a lot desired. For example, in the vital education sector, the spending is considerably without a vision with funds being used liberally for the establishment and upkeep of institutions that produce generalists, without helping to create the right kind of human resources. Spending for the establishment of new science and technology universities, engineering colleges, polytechnics, agricultural colleges, etc., that create the real human resources, are meagre compared to the need. The other day, the President, Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed was drawing attention to such neglect of science and technology education while addressing a convocation of a private university. He underlined on the occasion the significance of creating in greater number science-minded human resources. For this purpose, it will be important, as the President himself has suggested, to upgrade the country's education system to a much higher degree including information technology (IT) and other fields of studies in science that are so vitally linked to today's knowledge-based economic growth.
The lion's share of the education budget in the country is spent on primary and secondary education where various sorts of irregularities, resulting from lack of proper inspection or supervision and absence of transparency and accountability, reign supreme. The opportunities for technical training at government-run institutions are also very limited. Besides, there does not seem to be an effective policy in place to stop 'brain drain' or the retention of HR within the country for its benefit. Clearly, hard policies and, more importantly, their implementation are needed to attain the objectives of HR creation in sufficient number and quality for the country's own use, without being wasteful because of brain-drain.
In this backdrop, it is important to have an assessment first of what the requirements of the country are for the right kind of professionals and skilled persons and every effort should be made to create them in the needed number. Only in the secondary phase, after fulfilling the need for skilled and professional persons for the country's own economic growth and running of its social services, the surplus number that would be available should be aimed for sending out to meet external demands abroad. But achieving this objective is easier said than done. For this to accomplish, a conducive environment has to be created within the country to help retain the qualified professional manpower, particularly those relating to engineering, IT and other important fields, within the country. One has to keep it in mind that no regulated policy will serve any useful purpose in this age of globalisation when high-grade professional personnel, particularly in the fields of science and technology, and also capital, do tend to be "border-less", moving freely across the countries of the world. Unless things improve on the homefront for making the situation attractive enough in the comparative global perspectives, the country will not succeed much in making the most of its human resources or getting the best returns from them.
The government in Bangladesh is apparently seen as actively engaged in HR development. But its performance in this sphere leaves a lot desired. For example, in the vital education sector, the spending is considerably without a vision with funds being used liberally for the establishment and upkeep of institutions that produce generalists, without helping to create the right kind of human resources. Spending for the establishment of new science and technology universities, engineering colleges, polytechnics, agricultural colleges, etc., that create the real human resources, are meagre compared to the need. The other day, the President, Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed was drawing attention to such neglect of science and technology education while addressing a convocation of a private university. He underlined on the occasion the significance of creating in greater number science-minded human resources. For this purpose, it will be important, as the President himself has suggested, to upgrade the country's education system to a much higher degree including information technology (IT) and other fields of studies in science that are so vitally linked to today's knowledge-based economic growth.
The lion's share of the education budget in the country is spent on primary and secondary education where various sorts of irregularities, resulting from lack of proper inspection or supervision and absence of transparency and accountability, reign supreme. The opportunities for technical training at government-run institutions are also very limited. Besides, there does not seem to be an effective policy in place to stop 'brain drain' or the retention of HR within the country for its benefit. Clearly, hard policies and, more importantly, their implementation are needed to attain the objectives of HR creation in sufficient number and quality for the country's own use, without being wasteful because of brain-drain.
In this backdrop, it is important to have an assessment first of what the requirements of the country are for the right kind of professionals and skilled persons and every effort should be made to create them in the needed number. Only in the secondary phase, after fulfilling the need for skilled and professional persons for the country's own economic growth and running of its social services, the surplus number that would be available should be aimed for sending out to meet external demands abroad. But achieving this objective is easier said than done. For this to accomplish, a conducive environment has to be created within the country to help retain the qualified professional manpower, particularly those relating to engineering, IT and other important fields, within the country. One has to keep it in mind that no regulated policy will serve any useful purpose in this age of globalisation when high-grade professional personnel, particularly in the fields of science and technology, and also capital, do tend to be "border-less", moving freely across the countries of the world. Unless things improve on the homefront for making the situation attractive enough in the comparative global perspectives, the country will not succeed much in making the most of its human resources or getting the best returns from them.