Combining Education and Work; Experiences in Asia and Oceania: Bangladesh.

Overview & Synopsis

Bangladesh stresses the importance of education responsive to the country's development needs and capable of producing, through formal or non-formal methods, skilled, employable manpower. Although no pre-vocational training exists, new curricula have introduced practical work experience in the primary schools and have integrated agriculture, industry, social welfare, and home economics with general education at the secondary level in order to help reduce school dropout and youth unemployment problems. Post-secondary education remains remote and theoretical despite the push to combine work experience and education. Only highly specialized professional degree or vocational/technical programs utilize productive work experience during training. While Bangladesh plans more polytechnics and vocational/technical institutes, current emphasis appears to be centered on improving the quality of life and lowering the 75% illiteracy rate in the poverty ridden country through practical adult education programs of rural development, functional literacy, health, family planning, home economics, agriculture, and fisheries. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee attempted to provide non-formal education in these areas in a self-sustaining program of rural development in the Sylhet district. The program continued for four years but had little funding, an ill-trained staff, and met with limited success. (SB)