Educational reform initiatives are useless wthout competent teachers
…….Md. Nazrul Islam Tamiji
One of the primary goals of agendas for education reform in Bangladesh is to lower the rate of unemployment among graduates. Many articles about the unemployment rate and concerns with the current educational system have been published in a number of venues up to this point. The primary conclusion is that graduates of our educational system, particularly those with advanced degrees, lack the hard and soft skills necessary to obtain jobs. Moreover, it seems that obtaining a job is the main reason for obtaining an education in today’s society.
Several multi-level education reform initiatives are presently being carried out in Bangladesh with this goal in mind.The primary goal at the federal and university levels is to increase the possibilities for technical and vocational education. Two noteworthy initiatives include the creation of upazila-level technical and vocational education institutes across the country and the National University’s implementation of skill-focused diploma programs.
It wouldn’t be hyperbole to suggest that the main objective of education should be to create a civilized nation and community rather than to prepare graduates for the workforce. In terms of higher education, a school’s objectives ought to be to promote creativity, improve the state of knowledge, and generate new knowledge.
Formal education was instituted to educate the people during British control. Then, higher education was created to create an elite class of educated people who would work for the British rulers in India, providing public services and obtaining an education on par with that of the West. After the British Empire collapsed, the very restrictive British higher education system became the norm for higher education. However, the exclusive nature of higher education did not last.Following its independence in 1971, Bangladesh created new institutions and universities and offered opportunities for higher education to the general public. The nation adopted the higher education system of the United Kingdom.
A large number of people have graduated from universities due to the nation-wide massification of higher education. Still, there was a significantly larger supply than the labor market demanded. One projected effect of the mismatch was also a steady rise in graduate unemployment. Many graduates, even with the requisite skills, were jobless. Under increasing pressure, graduate unemployment has also become one of our most significant economic problems throughout time.
Improving our graduates’ chances for employment both within and beyond the country is the first step in resolving this problem.
This is why it is wrong to start an employment-focused school reform initiative. Raising the bar on educational standards comes with costs. Education systems, public and private, need to invest enough money. Of course, to draw the best graduates to the teaching profession, financial resources must be allocated to improving the social status and pay scales of teaching professions. It is unlikely that increased government spending will result in higher education. A nation’s high-quality educational system is largely dependent on its ability to hire skilled teachers in the first place.
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Author Md Nazrul Islam Tamiji is a social scientist & the chairman of National Human Rights Society
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