Awareness on technical education among the young people in Bangladesh

Blogger: Sumi Akter

Sumi Akter: The education that increases the practical and technical knowledge and skills for a specific occupation is called vocational education. The vocational education prepares a person to work in agriculture, trade, a craft, or industry as a technical or in professional vocations through a combination of theoretical teaching and practical experience. It helps people to increase their capacity, better performance in their jobs and involve them with creative and productive activities. Once upon a time we had endless natural resources and people lived happily  their life. But now the population has increased tremendously and this population growth creates pressure on our remaining natural resources. So it is very important to develop a person as a human resource.  One of the objectives of vocational training is to promote a balancing of supply and demand for skilled labor in both wage employment and for skills needed for self-employment in rural and urban areas. Vocational education has been given the role of transforming of our country’s economy and to meet the demands of the labor market. It enriches a person for life and it provides the competences which are necessary in a democratic society. Societal and economic development depends on the strength of vocational education as it provides access to skills and entry routes into the labor market.


Vocational educational and training promote equitable access to vocational training regardless of geographical locations, physical disabilities and sex, so even the vulnerable groups are able to contribute toward poverty reduction and its eradication. Vocational education has a vital role to play in poverty reduction through employment generation. The critical role of vocational education is highly needed to improve productivity, income and equitable access to employment opportunities.

The problem of youth unemployment is currently a serious issue and the vast majority of youth receive no vocational training of any kind. Many youths work as unskilled laborers in small and medium sized firms, and their employment is inferior and lowly paid. Although vocational training is practiced in Bangladesh, youth employment is still low and there is no documented information on the contribution of vocational education to youth employment. A number of youth are remaining in the labor market for a long period without accessing employment, because most of the youth have no skills. Skills requirement in the labor market are not compatible with skills supply. It is argued, that one of the factors contributing to poverty is lack of equal access to employable skills to enable the disadvantaged population engage in productive activities and increase their earnings. Now a day it is very essential to have knowledge and skills on modern technology. In this regards computer training, hotel management, tourist guide, English language courses, office management courses, basic accountancy courses, and similar are very useful in creating opportunities for new employment in our socio-economic context. Unemployment will become intolerable if they are not utilized properly. Technical education builds confidence in self employment and helps to become self-reliant. If we are aware of the technical education of young people and women, then the rural economic of our country will more easily be developed.

The job oriented technical education is expanding in Bangladesh and gradually the popularity and demand of technical or vocational education are increasing among the young generation. Besides, there are many technical and vocational training institutions established already in Bangladesh like for engineering, polytechnics, graphic arts, leather and textile technology, veterinary, interior decoration, gardening, advertisement, handicrafts, groceries, fishery, livestock, poultry, flower gardening, computer running, kitchen industry and many more, which are becoming more attractive among the young generation. In the present day, only text book knowledge is not enough to get into the specialized job. If the youth are not economically self-reliant, then more than half of the population will be unemployed and our country cannot achieve the expected economic growth.

In this context, the YES CENTER COXS BAZAR has been established in the village of Panerchora under the southern Mithachari union of Ramu upazila of Cox's Bazar district with the aim to improve the capacity of youth and to facilitate to have job opportunity. The YES CENTER provides six types of skill development training, which are very much essential and job oriented in present day. These trainings encourage the youth and especially the young women to be economically self-sufficient, take family responsibilities and also encourage them to take leadership in their society. Finally, the YES CENTER COX’S BAZAR will help us to move the wheel of our rural economy and remove the darkness of our society. Let us wake up and encourage our frustrated young people to have technical education and build their future!