Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s encouragement for students to become competent is certainly sound advice, and Bangladesh’s future indeed will depend on a generation that is skilled, adaptable, and prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. None of that can be argued with.
With that said, competence or skills cannot be built on words alone. If the next generation of Bangladeshis are to become skilled, competent and responsible citizens, then they will require resources, infrastructure, and sustained support.
While we are pleased to see the increased allocation for education in the upcoming fiscal year and see this, at least on paper, as a step in the right direction, we must also highlight the lived reality for the majority of our students.
We can speak about progress and development and our students to prosper all we want. However, if our classrooms remain overcrowded, if our teachers remain undertrained, and if we lack appropriate policies and infrastructure for our education, we will continue to falter.
This must begin with funds that are fully utilized and not just absorbed by construction projects or equipment purchases that look impressive but fail to reach the students who need them most.
If Bangladesh is serious about building a competent generation, then the state must begin to truly pay attention to education instead of merely talking about it.
From teacher training to curriculum reform to ensuring equitable access across rural and urban areas, our education needs an overhaul to make sure that our next generation has the support to shape the nation with the necessary competence required.
A skill-based society is the product of a system that nurtures talent and removes barriers. The PM’s call is welcome and inspiring, but it must be matched by real support to students.