Thousands of students graduate each year from technical institutes across Bangladesh—degrees in hand and expectations high. Yet jobs remain elusive. It’s not that positions aren’t available, but that graduates’ training fails to match market demands. This isn’t a new revelation—yet it’s one we refuse to confront.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) laid the problem bare: the system is broken, and in predictable, preventable ways. Students learn on machines that are obsolete, acquire skills that are outdated and prepare for jobs that no longer exist. “What they’re being taught,” CPD said bluntly, “no longer sells.”
Convener of the Citizen's Platform for sustainable development goals (SDG) and distinguished fellow of CPD Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, who delivered the keynote address, argued that this failure is structural, not accidental. “This is systemic failure,” he said. “The market knows what it wants. Our institutions do not.” His message was clear: the graduates are not at fault—the system has failed them.
Dr Bhattacharya was equally direct in his critique of Bangladesh’s education commissions: they have simply not done their jobs. “They were meant to lead,” he said, “but they stood still while others moved forward.” He pointed to South Korea, Japan and even India as examples of countries that retooled their economies through technical education—while Bangladesh merely handed out degrees and hoped for the best.
He warned that the future will not wait. “Without skills in science, maths and automation, we are preparing to be left behind,” he said. And the shortfall is not only in skills but in urgency: where there should be reform, there is complacency; where there should be strategy, there is silence.
Bangladesh has committed under the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure equitable, quality access to technical and vocational education by 2030. Yet Dr Bhattacharya noted that the target now seems increasingly distant. “Progress has been slow, political will thin and planning vague,” he observed.
He then outlined concrete steps forward. Investment must go beyond slogans. “Don’t just say 3–5 percent of GDP for education,” he urged. “Specify how much will go to vocational training, how many scholarships you’ll offer, and how much you’ll spend on new equipment.” He added that teaching staff must be modernized—and, where necessary, replaced. Teacher training is not optional; it’s fundamental.
Dr Bhattacharya also highlighted the persistent social bias against vocational education. “A student with a technical diploma is often deemed inferior to one with a BBA, regardless of actual skills,” he said. That mindset, he argued, is not only wrong but dangerous. “A skilled electrician or machinist is more valuable than a jobless business graduate.”
In closing, CPD issued a clear warning: if Bangladesh hopes to solve its employment crisis, it cannot rely on conventional education alone. The future depends on how seriously we’re willing to rethink the purpose of education—and whether we’re prepared to give technical training the investment, value and respect it deserves.
