“Institutional Management of TVET” Addressed in In-Country Program Held in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC), in collaboration with the Department of Technical Education (DTE) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Government of Bangladesh, held its annual in-country program on Institutional Management in TVET at the Directorate of Technical Education, in Dhaka, Bangladesh from September 07-11, 2014.

Institutional management, the process of laying out plans and organizing available resources to run a successful institute, is becoming an important trend as economies gear up for the rising demand of skilled graduates particularly in the TVET sector. As an inter-governmental organization for the development of TVET in Asia and the Pacific Region, CPSC aims to contribute to the raising of awareness and provision of skills and values necessary to put emerging challenges of the global economy into a framework of strategies and plan for effective management to conform to the needs of the global economy. Since all emerging challenges of developing human capital lies at the center of the TVET system, the program intends to be the platform for participants from various TVET institutions in the country to benefit from the program, gain learnings and eventually contribute to DTE’s strategic thrusts for institutional management.

The in-country program was organized in order to assist the participants in understanding concepts and to induct the practicing principals and senior faculty members of TVET Institutions in organizing different methods of institutional management and administration. It is also an effort to augment the efforts of the Ministry of Education, Bangladesh to guide for good management of the TVET Institutions and system on the path towards quality enhancement in all facets of the TVET programs, projects and activities and to institutionalize its implementation for continual improvement and adjustment to the workplace demands.

Themes and topics for the program include: (1) Management Concepts and Paradigms of Improving Institutional Managements in TVET Systems, (2) Strategic Planning and Management Process for Institutional Management of TVET Systems, (3) Emerging Trends in ICT-integrated Teaching and Learning Environment for TVET; (4) Accreditation and Certification of TVET Institutions through APACC Process for Quality Assurance, and (5) Developing and Ensuring Effective Implementation of Action Plans for Institutional Management. A special lecture on APACC accreditation as a means of assuring good institutional management and different theme papers was also included in the lineup.

Overall supervision was provided by Dr. Mohammad Naim Yaakub, Director General of CPSC. Engr. Md. Shahjahan Mian, Director General of the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Bangladesh and Prof. Dr. G. Kulanthaivel, CPSC Faculty Consultant jointly handled the program coordination. Engr. Babar Ali, Director of Planning and Development, DTE was in charge of the local coordination and logistics. Overall, the program involved participation of 44 principals, vice principals coming from the different polytechnics in the country along with administrators from DTE.

Mr. Md. Bazlur Rahman, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education, was present as chief guest during the Inaugural Ceremonies held on September 7, 2014. Dr. Naim was also present as a special guest. The inauguration was presided by Engr. Md. Shahjahan.

Dr. Naim (fourth from left) delivers his opening remarks during the inaugural ceremony.

In his opening speech, Dr. Naim expressed his appreciation to the good work done by the DTE in gearing its TVET system to its current leadership stage and discussed about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He also noted with gladness the recent development of Bangladesh like infrastructure development especially flyovers to reduce traffic congestion as well as other developments in the country. He expressed hope that the quality of TVET can be further assured through APPAC accreditation and re-accreditation of polytechnics in Bangladesh.

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Meanwhile, Mr. Md. Bazlur focused about Bangladesh population and shared his views on building their capacity in order to produce skilled manpower for the country. He also discussed about the challenges facing the country and asked the participants to make use of the course in developing sound strategic plan to solve the issues of TVET systems in Bangladesh.

Engr. Md. Shahjahan, on the other hand, mentioned the different roles that the developing partners should do in order to address the emerging problems of the country in terms of education and human resources development. He conveyed that there is a need to prioritize the capacity-building of DTE personnel, as well as the importance of training in the country as well as abroad.

The five-day program included a study visit to the UCEP-Bangladesh. This institution is known for inculcating marketable skills and providing employment support services through general education and vocational training in close collaboration with industries and employers throughout Bangladesh. UCEP has global reputation for its unique model of human resource development and its success has enabled it to be listed twice in the UN ESCAP's "Compendium of Centers of Excellence in HRD Research and Training".

As it is customary, a National Seminar on “Emerging Regional Trends for Institutional Management in TVET Systems” will be held on 10 September 2014. The seminar will involve the expertise of the following esteemed guests and experts:

1. Engr. Md. Babar Ali, Director (Planing & Development), Directorate of Technical Education, Bangladesh, to present the “Status of Institutional Management of TVET in Bangladesh: Achievements, Lessons Learnt and Issues”,
2. Mr. Abdur Rafique, National Professional Consultant, ILO TVET Reform Project Bangladesh, to deliver a presentation on “Monitoring and Evaluation of Institutional Management”,
3. Prof. Dr. G. Kulanthaivel, Faculty Consultant, CPSC, Manila will discuss on “Integrating ICT in TVET Systems for Institutional Management” and,
4. Engr. Md. Jahangir Alam, Former Faculty Specialist, CPSC and Assistant Professor of the Technical Teachers Training College, Dhaka will share his insights on “Managing Organizational Change during Institutional Management”.