The realities in technical and vocational education
Friday, 14 May 2010
Anisul Islam
Functionaries of the governments in Bangladesh who exercised power from time to time in the past have had their differences. But they have been remarkably united in repeating what has been proved to be nothing more than a useless cliché that they want human resources to be created in Bangladesh.
If they really aspired for this, then realities in the realm of technical education would not be so shocking. Thus, a large number of the government-run polytechnic institutes of the country are reportedly running without the required number of teachers and technical manpower including those at key positions. Such posts including those of instructors have reportedly been lying vacant for long in these polytechnic institutions.
Furthermore, reports that appeared in newspapers sometime ago said that about a large number of teachers of the polytechnics did not receive their salaries for a pretty long time. Most of the polytechnics are again reportedly burdened with worn-out and dysfunctional equipment. But even a fool can realise that tools and the machines are basic to successfully imparting practical education in these centres of vocational education and training.
A polytechnic can accomplish much in creating true human resources for the country. But some other institutions that promote only general education and hence generalists hardly having any application in the economy, have been proliferating in great number. Liberal government grants are provided in most cases to such institutions. But the real centres of human resources making such as the polytechnics are found to be in a hard battle for bare survival. This would illustrate amply well the awful mismatch between what our leaders in governance of the country pledge to do and what they actually do. The forms of education that do really matter for nation-building and economic growth, the whole country and its present and future generations continue to be neglected. As a result, these institutes are paying the bitter price.
Time is more than ripe to go for a hard assessment of the costs of rearing redundant types of education. The stock-taking needs to be followed immediately by policies and their fastest implementation that should vitally include reorienting a great deal of education's thrust on technical and vocational education and the channeling of appropriate resources to this stream of education.
Functionaries of the governments in Bangladesh who exercised power from time to time in the past have had their differences. But they have been remarkably united in repeating what has been proved to be nothing more than a useless cliché that they want human resources to be created in Bangladesh.
If they really aspired for this, then realities in the realm of technical education would not be so shocking. Thus, a large number of the government-run polytechnic institutes of the country are reportedly running without the required number of teachers and technical manpower including those at key positions. Such posts including those of instructors have reportedly been lying vacant for long in these polytechnic institutions.
Furthermore, reports that appeared in newspapers sometime ago said that about a large number of teachers of the polytechnics did not receive their salaries for a pretty long time. Most of the polytechnics are again reportedly burdened with worn-out and dysfunctional equipment. But even a fool can realise that tools and the machines are basic to successfully imparting practical education in these centres of vocational education and training.
A polytechnic can accomplish much in creating true human resources for the country. But some other institutions that promote only general education and hence generalists hardly having any application in the economy, have been proliferating in great number. Liberal government grants are provided in most cases to such institutions. But the real centres of human resources making such as the polytechnics are found to be in a hard battle for bare survival. This would illustrate amply well the awful mismatch between what our leaders in governance of the country pledge to do and what they actually do. The forms of education that do really matter for nation-building and economic growth, the whole country and its present and future generations continue to be neglected. As a result, these institutes are paying the bitter price.
Time is more than ripe to go for a hard assessment of the costs of rearing redundant types of education. The stock-taking needs to be followed immediately by policies and their fastest implementation that should vitally include reorienting a great deal of education's thrust on technical and vocational education and the channeling of appropriate resources to this stream of education.