FE Report
Speakers at an international conference have underscored the need for skills development of labour force through technical and vocational education to help the country achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
They also suggested that the authorities should focus more on development of soft skills of human resources, providing necessary training for existing workforce and industry-based education to take advantage of demographic dividend for better economic growth.
The observations were made at the inaugural session of a two-day international skills conference titled 'Building Brands for Skills of Bangladesh' held in the capital on Thursday.
Technical and Madrasa Education Division (TMED) under the Education Ministry organised the conference with the support from Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) of Directorate of Technical Education.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid addressed the programme as the chief guest while World Bank (WB) Bangladesh senior operations officer Dr Md Mokhlesur Rahman, WB senior education economist Shiro Nakata, Nanyang Polytechnic International (Singapore) chairperson Anthony Woon and STEP project director ABM Azad also spoke at the programme with TMED secretary Md Alamgir in the chair.
Presenting the keynote paper titled 'Skills for Tomorrow's Jobs', Shiro Nakata said technological advancement has been changing the picture of jobs all over the world.
Around 47 per cent odd jobs in USA and 35 per cent in the UK have already been at risk because of computerisation while at least 60 per cent of such jobs in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries will be affected in near future for automation, he said.
Noting that Bangladesh's economy is quite similar to ASEAN countries, the WB official said about 47 per cent of large enterprises and 25 per cent of medium ones in Bangladesh's textile and readymade garments (RMG) sector use advanced technologies.
However, the country now requires developing skills of the workforce especially in the labour intensive industries to be a part of the fourth industrial revolution, he observed.
He said, in this regard, firstly, Bangladesh should concentrate on soft skills and high-order thinking skills development such as critical thinking, problem solving, leadership and communication.
Secondly, lifelong relearning opportunities should be given emphasis for the people who are already in the job market with a view to improving their existing skills.
Lastly, industry- based skills development is a prerequisite to prepare youths for the fourth industrial revolution, he added.
However, the education expert informed that only 20 to 25 per cent companies in Bangladesh arrange skill development programmes on a regular or irregular basis.
Delivering the chief guest's speech, Nurul Islam Nahid said, "Education is our priority but technical education is the priority of the priorities at this moment".
Mentioning different initiatives taken by the government to popularise technical education in the country, the minister said the government has already ensured more than 14 per cent enrollment of total students in the country in technical education which was only 1.0 per cent before 2009.
The government has prioritised technical and vocational education in a bid to do better in the SDG-4 that encompasses many different aspects of education, he said.
The education minister also said that the government is working hard to increase technical education enrollment to 20 per cent by 2020 and 30 per cent by 2030.
Sharing Singapore's experience in developing technical education, Anthony Woon suggested six points to set new standards of excellence in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) project in Bangladesh.
The policymakers should focus on market-oriented planning, adaptive training system, capabilities development, transnational cooperation, application and development-oriented policies, and regional and international orientation of the entrepreneurs, he added.
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