Issues and Prospects of TVET

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) refers to education that prepares learners with the knowledge and competencies (skills and attitudes) required for an occupation or profession. In Bangladesh, TVET means school- and college-level vocational training and short-term skills training alongside engineering in polytechnic colleges. TVET is a skill-focused education and training which enables one to earn a better livelihood. That is, TVET plays an important role in developing men into skilled manpower for a country. TVET-trained learners can usually choose or invent a career for themselves. With the knowledge and skills gained from TVET, learners in a country like China usually set up a cottage industry and produce export-quality finished goods. Bangladeshi TVET learners can also begin their own enterprise, join a job in the local market or seek jobs internationally. Through studying TVET, a huge number of younger learners in Bangladesh are getting prepared for the emerging jobs which learners with general education can never think about.
The government of Bangladesh attaches much importance to TVET to improve the income of the learners coming from families with meagre economic backgrounds. Some NGOs such as Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programme (UCEP) Bangladesh, and others are also engaged in skills development for out-of-school children. It is also evident that many TVET-trained learners have taken initiatives to reduce poverty in their families, improve their lifestyle, and enhance mobility across countries. Although TVET has prospects in improving lifestyle through income generation, there are some issues related to quality, social outlook, industry-institution collaboration, and employment opportunities. Different reports indicate that the quality of TVET education in Bangladesh is poor. Because of limited or insufficient practice opportunities, learners cannot achieve the quality needed to fit anywhere in the world; sometimes, they cannot demonstrate the knowledge and skills their certificates claim they have. Why does it happen? It happens mainly because of inadequate infrastructure such as laboratories and apparatuses, well-equipped workshops with necessary tools for gaining hands-on experience, expert faculty with technical and pedagogical knowledge and skills, and internship opportunities for the trainees.
Bangladeshi industrialists claim that they do not find well-qualified employees for their industries. Although the industrialists receive many curricula vitae, most of the candidates are unable to show the desired performance. These low-performing hands are produced by the faculty with no or little industry-related knowledge and skills. This can be addressed by organising training for teachers and creating industry exposure opportunities in the form of internships for learners. Laboratories and workshops can be set up, and modern machinery can be purchased for better outcomes. In Bangladesh, we do not usually study the market to determine which kinds of employees we need for the market at present and what kinds of manpower we will need in the next five or 10 years. As a result, many TVET-completed learners remain unemployed, and on the other hand, there are industries where appropriate employees cannot be recruited because of a dearth of efficient manpower. The culture of industry and institution ties is so weak in Bangladesh. Because of a lack of appropriate insight in the leadership of the institutions, proper connections cannot be made with the industry, which could provide the learners with practical knowledge, skills, and confidence. Institutions must be forced to collaborate with industry. If this collaboration is made mandatory and functional, high-quality workers with diverse technical skills would enter local and global markets, increase remittances and contribute to Bangladesh’s economic growth. 
We have a National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) in Bangladesh directly under the supervision of the Prime Minister of the country. As a statutory body, it has every right and power to modernise our TVET, but so far as known, the NSDA is limping, not striding. To improve TVET education in Bangladesh, the government should take necessary measures, in line with the technologically developed countries, to modernise curricula that match the needs of the labour market globally, improve teachers’ technical and pedagogical knowledge and skills; upgrade laboratories, workshops, and learning resources; strengthen industry-institution collaboration; make TVET more inclusive and accessible; and improve employment and career services for the trainees.
Furthermore, measures should be taken to audit the quality of the certificates and the institutions, change public attitudes by providing stipends to learners with better results, improve funding and good governance, increase support for self-employment and microenterprise development, conduct studies to identify local and global needs trends, and make TVET employment-orientated, not certificate-directed. Bangladesh can learn from Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, China, and Japan, which provide high-quality TVET education to learners enrolled in their institutions. NSDA, along with TMED (Technical and Madrasah Education Division), can make the necessary reforms in the technical and vocational education sectors. If necessary, the authority can gather experiences from those who have achieved successes in TVET education. One more thing, the NSDA can publicise the benefits of TVET through electronic and print media so that the interested students and their guardians can make informed decisions regarding admission in different trades.
The training components included in the TVET curriculum in Bangladesh, among others, are electrical house wiring; general electronics; mobile phone servicing; certificate of beautification; tailoring and dressmaking; plumbing and pipe fitting; motorcycle repairing; industrial sewing machine operation; sweater linking machine operation; computer office application; AutoCAD (2D and 3D); refrigeration and air-conditioning, etc. These are important, no doubt, but other demanding fields such as engineering and manufacturing; construction and building; information and communication technology; automotive and transportation; agriculture and agribusiness; hospitality and business; robotics, etc. can also be included. Japan and South Korea attach importance to forward-looking technologies such as artificial intelligence, software engineering, bi-health, semiconductor display, smart mechatronics, mechanical design, agriculture, technology, fishery, home economics engineering and industrial technology, information and communication technology, healthcare and social welfare, hospitality, tourism, and food services; business, commerce, and creative industries. Our TVET education should include some more advanced technology in line with the stated countries.
What we see in Bangladesh is that the weaker students usually opt for TVET; the brighter students usually do not choose to study TVET. In many cases, the guardians are not aware of the benefits of TVET. If the government can attract the brighter students through a handsome stipend, the scenario of TVET education in the country will change positively, resulting in the production of comparatively more skilled people. If this can be made happen, after fulfilling the needs of the country, the surplus manpower can be exported to different countries. It is expected that our government will take necessary steps to modernise and enhance the quality of TVET education in the country.
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The writer is the Chairman, Department of Education, Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology (ADUST).

He can be reached at [email protected]