Policy revision to address practical challenges

Skills 21 is at a fairly advanced stage in reviewing the existing National Skills Development Policy 2011. The project believes principals and local stakeholders can contribute to this priority revision through participatory governance processes like this policy dialogue.

ILO DHAKA News- ILO’s European Union funded Skills 21 project organized an online policy dialogue titled “The National Skills Development Policy 2011- Major imperatives to reflect on” with Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) and the Principals of nine partner TVET institutes on 19 May 2020.

Policy dialogue on the online platform© ILO
As the COVID-19 situation did not allow conducting the policy dialogues physically at the institutes, this was the first attempt to pilot this online policy dialogue. The objective of this policy dialogue is to engage the voice and thoughts of the Principals and relevant stakeholders in the formulation of the revised National Skills Development Policy (NSDP). Skills 21 is at a fairly advanced stage in reviewing the existing policy.

Md. Jahangir Alam, Director Planning, Directorate of Technical Education said, “The revised skills policy should be based on the skills gap analysis in terms of demand and supply. Entrepreneurship skills development training should be emphasized in the policy. The industries should be sensitized to engage with the institutes to give their hands for practical training.”

Due to the current global pandemic situation, the regular education and training got disrupted, and alternate teaching and learning methods became the new normal. Indicating the need to address this new normal in the policy, Principal in Charge in Vocational Teachers’ Training Institute, Bogura, Engr. Zindar Ali said, “The online platform for TVET has been introduced and we are piloting it for the students, teachers, trainers, and assessors; the revised policy should have a provision for this online learning and training.”

“The graduates who are about to enter the job market for them competition are intense and opportunities are few. To address this situation, the policy can enforce the industry to recruit certified skilled workers. This can align the training and education system as per market demand”. - said Abdul Motin Hawlader, Principal, BS Kaptai Polytechnic Institute.
There are major external factors, which demand to rethink the priorities of skills policy in Bangladesh. Skills 21 believes principals and local stakeholders can contribute to this priority revision through participatory governance processes like this policy dialogue.

The major recommendations that came from the principals to be considered in the revised policy are as follows:
 Revised NSDP must have an action plan for effective implementation
 Revised skills policy should be based on the skills gap analysis in terms of demand and supply
 For the countrywide scale-up of NTVQF- teacher’s capacity development, equipment support, budget support and mandatory emphasis for implementation should be reflected in the policy
 Revised NSDP must emphasize on women-focused courses for wage and self-employment and equal salary for better female participation in the skills sector.
 TVET and skills training should be offered both online and offline. A blended approach is the demand for the new normal and NSDP should reflect on that.
 Soft skills are one new dimension of skills for the 21st century. This should be the priority while revising the existing skills policy.
 Traditional teachers’ training and pedagogy training should be made compulsory for all teachers through the revised policy to ensure a minimum quality of the teachers on both management and pedagogy.

Skills 21 project is a joint initiative of the Government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organization (ILO), funded by the European Union. The project seeks to increase productivity and employment opportunities through an environmentally conscious, inclusive, demand-driven, and interlinked skills development system responding to the needs of the labour market.