Originally posted in The Business Standard on 29 April 2025
“We now see students protesting with various demands. Unfortunately, policymakers aren’t adequately listening to them, and their issues aren’t receiving sufficient media coverage,” said the convener of Citizen’s Platform
The government is not paying proper attention to technical and vocational education, said Debapriya Bhattacharya, the convener of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, today (29 April).
“We now see students protesting with various demands. Unfortunately, policymakers aren’t adequately listening to them, and their issues aren’t receiving sufficient media coverage,” he said at a media briefing organised by the platform, which represents more than 150 NGOs and private sector bodies.
Debapriya, also a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), made the remarks while addressing the media briefing, titled “Technical and Vocational Education in Bangladesh: Current Situation and Reform Thoughts”. The event started at the CPD office in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi at 11am this morning.
At the event, Debapriya said, “Instead of discriminatory policies toward technical and vocational education, these areas should be prioritised. Technical and vocational education will be key factors in addressing Bangladesh’s challenges after graduating from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) list. We must develop our human resources.”
It was announced at the event that today’s program was organised to bring government attention to issues regarding technical and vocational education institutions. The media briefing was arranged to accelerate national initiatives by addressing the current situation and suggesting potential policy measures.
Last year, the CPD conducted a social audit at the grassroots level with the cooperation of the Citizen’s Platform. This initiative involved current and former students, trainees, teachers, guardians, government officials, and other stakeholders from technical and vocational education institutions.
Based on this research, a national conference was held in Dhaka on 2 November 2024.
The research highlighted various issues related to teaching methods in technical and vocational institutions, their effectiveness, the acceptability of technical education certificates in domestic and international labour markets, and negative social attitudes toward students and trainees.