In the last 10 years, the World Bank has been the main development partner for the Government of Bangladesh to improve higher education and generate knowledge about the sector.
... See More + In 2009, the MoE embarked on a new project, Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP), with the financial and technical support from the World Bank and with the objectives of improving the quality of education and governance of university sector in the country. The project was the first-ever World Bank-supported project in higher education in Bangladesh and implemented for the subsequent 10 years until 2018. Eventually, the World Bank went on to extend its support to the affiliated college subsector with another project called College Education Development Project (CEDP). Previously, the subsector had never received any support from development partners despite its outsized presence and relevance for overall performance of higher education in Bangladesh. The project has three components: (1) strengthening strategic planning and management capacity; (2) improving teaching and learning environment in participating colleges; and (3) project management, communication, and monitoring and evaluation. The CEDP is expected to continue for five years until June 2022. In part due to the lack of presence of development partner involvement, the subsector has been faced with a paucity of evidence base for policy decision making and situation analysis. This graduate tracking study was conceived to fill the knowledge gap in the subsector and was undertaken as part of the World Bank’s advisory and analytical support to the government. This study was commissioned to address the mounting concerns about the quality of education at affiliated colleges in Bangladesh and to provide evidence about job market performance and employability of affiliated college graduates.
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Bangladesh is recognized globally for its remarkable track record of socioeconomic development and potential for becoming an economic powerhouse in the region.
... See More + The economy has sustained impressive economic growth over the past three decades despite incidences of political conflict, natural calamities, and financial shocks. The country met the Millennium Development Goals ahead of time and reduced the poverty level substantially over the past decades. Progress in human development, education, and health has been equally impressive and produced a healthier and better-educated working population. More women are joining the workforce while gender gaps in pay are gradually narrowing. Moving forward, the country aspires to reach the stage of a developed economy in the next two decades. Bangladesh needs to prepare its workforce for the emerging challenges for a dynamic economy in an increasingly globalized world. The economy is undergoing structural changes on several fronts. First, Bangladesh has transitioned from a largely traditional, agriculture-based economy to an industry and service-driven economy. Industry sector has been the main driving force for economic growth. Second, more recently, technological progress is rapidly changing the production and service modality. Firms need to not only constantly adjust their business and production modality with these technological changes but also have highly skilled manpower who can enable such change processes. Third, a growing and youthful workforce in Bangladesh provides a window of opportunity to improve productivity and accelerate economic growth. Equipping the young generation with the skills needed for jobs remains crucial. On one hand, employers are demanding higher-skilled professionals for technical and managerial positions to support the growing industry and service sectors. On the other hand, tertiary education institutes (TEIs) are struggling to produce employable graduates for the job market. Unemployment rates are consistently high among tertiary graduates, causing prolonged and frustrating joblessness for many. At the same time, the culture and practice of collaborative research to promote industry competitiveness and innovation has been largely missing in the country’s tertiary education landscape, undermining Bangladesh’s competitiveness ranking in the global knowledge economy. There is urgent need to identify and address the challenges in the sector and orient tertiary education toward the demands of the economy and labor market to help realize Bangladesh’s full economic development potential. On one hand, employers are demanding higher-skilled professionals for technical and managerial positions to support the growing industry and service sectors. On the other hand, tertiary education institutes (TEIs) are struggling to produce employable graduates for the job market. Unemployment rates are consistently high among tertiary graduates, causing prolonged and frustrating joblessness for many. At the same time, the culture and practice of collaborative research to promote industry competitiveness and innovation has been largely missing in the country’s tertiary education landscape, undermining Bangladesh’s competitiveness ranking in the global knowledge economy. There is urgent need to identify and address the challenges in the sector and orient tertiary education toward the demands of the economy and labor market to help realize Bangladesh’s full economic development potential.
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In the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution, skills development is important for Bangladesh more than ever to achieve a high-productivity growth and create more and better jobs.
... See More + Technologies are drastically changing the business landscape and transforming the job market and skills demand. This Policy Note highlights critical skills gap in the face of rapid technological changes and proposes key strategies to reorient Bangladesh's skills development system for the future of work.
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Greater access to high quality and relevant technical training opportunities is essential to reap the benefits of a growing youthful population and modern technologies.
... See More + With a bulging youth population – around 40 percent are below 20 years of age - Bangladesh has a great opportunity to reap the benefits of the large and growing working population. This Policy Note provides insights on how technical skills and vocational training can promote employability of students in Bangladesh and what more needs to be done.
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The skills for tomorrow’s Jobs in Bangladesh attempts to address key skills challenges and identifyopportunities in the backdrop of fast technological and economic changes.
... See More + It proposes mid to long-term strategic policy options that would contribute to economic growth and job creation in Bangladesh with a focus on post-secondary education and skills development sectors. It aims to inform the Government and the World Bank’s jobs agenda. The study draws upon relevant literatures from international and national sources, the government’s surveys and education statistics, and analytical works undertaken by the World Bank and other agencies. Moreover, the study was extensively informed and guided by knowledge and insights gathered through the experience from the World Bank funded operations and series of consultations on skills for future jobs with relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh.
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With a bulging youth population, Bangladesh has a great opportunity to reap the benefits of the large and growing working population. Meantime, the country's labor market has been evolving.
... See More + More than ever, employers are demanding higher skilled workers who meet their business needs. Greater access to high quality and relevant technical training opportunities would be essential to supply high-skilled manpower, and improvement of the quality and relevance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is urgently needed. However, little evidence is available in Bangladesh with regard to the labor market outcomes of TVET graduates and alignment of trained skills with employers' needs. This study investigates into the employment outcomes of polytechnic graduates in Bangladesh and employers' perception about graduates' skills. Based on the findings, the study then presents recommendations to improve the quality and labor market relevance of polytechnic education in Bangladesh.
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While Bangladesh has achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education under the general education stream, it is yet to improve gender outcomes in the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) subsector.
... See More + The share of female enrolments in diploma programs remained steady, averaging around 12 percent over the past five years despite the repeated call of the government for increased female participation in skills training. The paucity of relevant studies has been hindering effective policy discussion on the issue. To understand the factors that affect female participation in TVET, this study undertook a systematic review of existing literatures, supplemented by qualitative information from Focus Group Discussions (FGD) conducted on students of diploma programs offered by polytechnics in Bangladesh. The study discusses several factors affecting female participation in TVET: (a) supply constraints – lack of institutions nearby, non-conducive facility and faculty environment, non-availability of female-friendly courses and relatively high TVET costs for poor households, and (b) demand-side constraints - the reputational issue as the TVET sector is associated with the image of male-domination and low-performers, weak demand for technical training among potential female students due to lack of awareness, and employers’ perception of appropriate female roles at work. The study indicates that female participation in technical diploma programs would benefit from activities across the following areas: (i) creating a gender-friendly environment in polytechnics and workplaces; (ii) developing more service-orientated diploma programs; (iii) developing a TVET awareness campaign for females; (iv) supporting a career counseling and guidance system for females; (v) improving access to higher education; (vi) providing greater demand-stimulating incentives; (vii) generating research and knowledge on TVET for females, and (viii) leveraging partnerships to promote skills development for females.
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Skills development is one of the priorities for national economic development strategies of Bangladesh. The vision 2021 of the Government of Bangladesh gives the highest priority to building a large base of skilled workers in order to achieve a poverty-free middle-income country by 2021.
... See More + The skills development sector is highly complex due to multiple service providers, a vast spectrum of target audiences, a large range in modalities of service provision, and varied emphases in terms of skills levels and types. The short-term training, a formal channel of six months training, is an important instrument for bridging the gap between the needs of the labor market for increasing the pool of skillful workers and the aspiration of the students for finding a good job. In order to assess the performance of short-term training and interventions by Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP), a tracer study was conducted between December 2013 and January 2014. Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) is jointly financed by the World Bank, Canada and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), which started in 2010 for contributing to Bangladesh’s medium to long-term objective of developing its human resources as a cornerstone of its strategy for poverty alleviation and economic growth. It supports competitively selected 42 public and 8 private short-term training institutions for improving the quality of training and providing opportunities to the disadvantaged youth for obtaining skills from the select training providers.
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A nation's utilization and creation of knowledge endeavors are globally acknowledged as the driving forces for economic development and competitiveness.
... See More + Public and private investments in institutions of higher education and research require strengthening in tandem with the development of a regulatory environment that supports national and institutional growth. In recognition of these issues, the Government of Bangladesh's first Higher Education Strategic Plan (2006-2026) proposed a long-term development plan for the higher education sector, recommending that the plan will need to be cognizant of both universities and the Bangladesh National University-affiliated colleges where the majority of post-secondary graduates are enrolled. This study addresses challenges faced by a major part of the higher education sector in Bangladesh - the colleges. The objectives of the study are to: a) review and analyze the college education system of Bangladesh and b) identify policy options which will guide the government as it prepares a long-term strategy to improve the quality and relevance of higher education. This report is divided into the four key areas ripe for reform: a) access and equity, b) quality and relevance, c) financing, and d) governance.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 84428 JAN 01, 2014
