Rabiul Islam completed his diploma in engineering in 2020. After that, he worked at three different companies. His first job paid only BDT 8,500 per month. However, three months into the job, he was fired without notice. He then found another job that paid BDT 12,000 monthly, but the workload was much higher than expected. Meanwhile, his university graduate colleagues earned almost three times his salary for the same position. Frustrated with the situation, Rabiul quit and started his own business.

Shahriar Ahmed, who completed his diploma in engineering from a government polytechnic institute in 2022, has worked in three different companies. His current job pays him just BDT 15,000. Shahriar said, “It’s not that we can’t find jobs, but the work we get isn’t up to standard. Many of my classmates have chosen to stay home in their villages because their salary is insufficient to live in Dhaka. My family lives in the village, and I can barely manage my expenses here, let alone help them.”

Shahriar added, “To move forward in our careers, many feel they need to do a four-year B.Sc. at a private university after completing the diploma. But it’s too expensive. Because of this, many people aren’t interested in pursuing a diploma in engineering anymore.”

While the government has focused on technical education for several years, and the number of government and private polytechnic institutes has increased, experts say there are still major challenges. These include a shortage of teachers, lack of proper facilities, and limited job opportunities after graduation, which have caused the number of students in diploma engineering courses to decline.

The latest annual report from the Technical Education Board also highlights this issue. For the 2023-24 academic year, the total number of seats in government and private polytechnic institutes across the country was 171,500. However, only 68,782 students were enrolled, the lowest number in the past five years. This means that nearly 60 percent of the seats in these institutes were left vacant in that academic year.

Looking at the reports from the past five years, in the 2019-20 academic year, 81,076 students were admitted to diploma engineering programs, but 52.8 percent of the seats remained empty. The next year, 77,272 students were enrolled, but 54.34 percent of seats were still vacant. In the 2021-22 academic year, 73,272 students enrolled, leaving 58.62 percent of the seats empty. Similarly, in the 2022-23 academic year, 71,553 students were admitted, but 59.4 percent of the seats remained unfilled.

Professor Dr. Md. Ali Zinnah from the University of Dhaka’s Institute of Education and Research shared with Bonik Barta, “In recent years, technical education has received more focus, but there has been no proper connection between education and the job market. Moreover, institutes have not been able to hire skilled staff necessary to provide quality technical education. Because of this, some students are getting frustrated, and their discouragement affects new students, making them less interested in enrolling. If we can create a strong link between education and employment, especially by training students according to the needs of the international job market, interest in diploma engineering will grow.”

A research report submitted to the National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM) in 2021 shows that 54 percent of diploma holders are employed, 4 percent are entrepreneurs, 38 percent are unemployed, and 4 percent are not interested in working. However, unemployment is higher in rural areas compared to cities. Only 48 percent of diploma holders in rural areas are employed.

The research was conducted on 272 diploma holders from government and private polytechnic institutes. According to the report, 65 percent of employed diploma holders work in private companies, 24 percent work in privately owned businesses, 6 percent are employed in autonomous organizations or NGOs, and 5 percent work in government offices. Of those working, 44 percent earn between BDT 10,000 and 15,000 per month, 43 percent earn less than BDT 10,000, and only 13 percent earn more than BDT 15,000 per month.

Similar findings were reported in a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics (BANBEIS). According to the survey, 71 percent of diploma engineers earn between BDT 10,000 to 20,000 in their jobs.

However, teachers at polytechnic institutes say that students who focus on their studies and gain skills don’t remain unemployed. Engineer Niher Ranjan Das, principal of Narsingdi Polytechnic Institute, told Bonik Barta, “Seats at government institutions are not often vacant. Students who study well here find good positions. However, some students drop out, and others fall behind because they don’t attend classes regularly. These students face more challenges in the job market. Salary structures vary across institutions. Initially, salaries might be low, but if someone shows good skills, they can quickly earn a higher salary.”

He pointed out that the lack of skilled teachers is a major challenge in technical education. He added, “Due to the shortage of teachers, institutions have fallen behind in recent years. Students have not been able to receive quality education. As a result, some institutions have seen a drop in the number of students. However, steps are being taken to resolve this issue. In the past few months, many teachers have been hired. In my institution, we have hired 26 new teachers.”

Meanwhile, students at polytechnic institutes have been protesting for a long time, demanding the establishment of a separate Ministry of Technical and Higher Education, the creation of a “Technical Education Reform Commission,” and the creation of technical universities to provide more opportunities for higher education. Since last Wednesday, students protesting again have raised several new demands. These include the cancellation of the 30 percent promotion quota for craft instructors to junior instructor positions, reversing the decision to promote craft instructors to junior instructor positions, changing the job titles of Craft Instructors, firing those involved in legal cases, canceling the appointment of Craft Instructors hired in 2021 and immediately revising the controversial recruitment policies.

Last Thursday, the students had a long meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education to discuss these demands. However, after the meeting, Mashfiq Islam, a representative of the polytechnic students, said, “We did not see any visible action from the ministry. We are not satisfied with this meeting. Our protest will continue until our demands are met.”

Following their six-point demands, students from polytechnic institutes across the country held a “Kafan Michhil” after Friday’s Jummah prayers as part of their central program. The protesting students called on the government to immediately meet their six demands. They warned that they would intensify their protests if their demands were unmet.

Regarding the issue, Engineer Md. Ruhul Amin, Chairman of the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, told Bangladesh Bonik Barta, “It is not true that technical education students are not getting good jobs. Many students are doing very well. A big problem here is the lack of promotion and awareness about the opportunities in technical education. We are now taking various steps to increase awareness. Also, there are some low-quality private polytechnic institutes. These institutes often lack the necessary facilities, so students do not want to enroll there. From the Board’s side, we will act against these institutes through field inspections to ensure better student opportunities.”