“Importance of Vocation Education in Bangladesh”

Vocational education means learning to change one's behaviour to enhance the quality of life through work and values, without or along with formal schooling. The target groups may be determined as follows on the priority basis: 

• Those who never went to a school. 
• Those who dropped out of school. 
• Unemployed youths in search of jobs. 
• Young men and women in the rural areas. 
• Youth in tribal areas. 

Characteristics of VE:

• It is flexible. 
• Although place, contents, policy, time of obtaining education are predetermined, yet these can be changed according to the need of the learners. 
• Life long or no limitation of time for his education system. 
• Education activities are directed in congenial atmosphere. 
• Life and need based educational curriculum. 
• No any examination fear. 
• Sometimes a minimum course fees are taken. 

Importance of VE: 

The main emphasis on vocational education should be on programs based on contents which have direct relevance to struggling against poverty and activating the people to solve various problems they face in their day to day life. The government take up a project to expand technical education in Bangladesh, decided to set up 389 technical schools and colleges at the upazilla level and one polytechnic institute each in 23 districts to increase enrolment in technical or vocational education to 20% by 2020. 

The main contents of VE: 

• Information and knowledge about environment. 
• Knowledge about social, economic, scientific and technological changes in the environment in which the learners live and will work. 
• Elementary principles of health, hygienic child care and nutrition. 
• Basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic. 
• Introductory occupational and vocational skill programmers to prepare the learns for a job or for self employment. 
• Family planning and activities for professional development. 

Seems that the introduction of such provisions is a necessary corollary to the full utilization of the program of vocational education that is proposing which would provide with workshop and increasing the GDP of Bangladesh.