Technical schools and colleges (TSCs) across the country are failing to attract enough students compared with their seat capacity. Each year, nearly 62 percent of seats in these institutions remain vacant. Despite this, the number of TSCs in Bangladesh continues to grow. During the ousted Awami League government’s tenure, priority was given to infrastructure development rather than ensuring quality at all levels of education. Several large projects were undertaken in the technical education sector as well, among them two projects to build 429 TSCs in 429 upazilas. One project included 100 institutions, while the other covered 329. By 2025, a total of 91 of these TSCs have started academic activities.
Nearly 50 percent of teaching positions in these institutions remain vacant. Because of a shortage of skilled teachers, lack of adequate publicity, and other reasons, none of the TSCs that began operations have ever been able to enroll students matching their available capacity in any academic year. Both projects are set to expire in December this year, but construction of 338 TSCs is still incomplete. Recently, the Directorate of Technical Education sent a proposal for a third revision of the first project to the Planning Commission. Sources said the duration of the second project for building 329 TSCs may also need to be extended.
According to the Bangladesh Technical Education Board’s (BTEB) annual report for the 2023–24 academic year, around 62 percent of seats remained empty in 149 TSCs where academic programs were active. Among them, 136 institutions were offering lower secondary-level programs, with a total seat capacity of 26,650. Only 10,603 students enrolled, leaving 16,047 seats vacant, or 60.21 percent of total capacity. The situation was similar in SSC (Vocational) and HSC (Vocational) courses.
SSC (Vocational) programs were running in 149 institutions with 105,600 seats. In 2023–24 academic year, 38,620 students enrolled, leaving 66,920 seats vacant, or 63.43 percent of total capacity. HSC (Vocational) courses in 149 institutions had 24,050 seats. Only 9,099 students enrolled, leaving 14,951 seats vacant, or 62.16 percent of the total.
In total, the 149 institutions had more than 150,000 seats. Once the 338 under-construction institutions are completed, seat capacity is expected to increase by another 283,920.
According to data from the Directorate of Technical Education, these institutions offer pre-vocational courses for students from grades six to eight, and at least four trades for students from grades nine to twelve. They also provide training under SSC (vocational) and HSC (vocational) courses, along with other trades. At present, even in institutions where all courses are available, most seats remain vacant. Including the earlier 64 schools, a total of 155 technical schools and colleges are now in operation.
Figures from the Planning Ministry and the Directorate of Technical Education show that the construction of 429 such institutions will cost BDT 230.46 billion. During the tenure of the AL government, both the duration and the budget of the project were revised upward in two phases.
Professor Dr. Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the private research organization Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said there are questions regarding the logic of building new institutions without improving the quality of technical education. He told Bonik Barta, “At present context, increasing skills in technical education is very urgent. Training in technical education is not being provided in line with the demand of the labor market. For lack of proper training, the institutions of this sector and the students are falling behind.”
Dr. Mustafizur Rahman further said, “In the case of adopting new projects, it is necessary to see whether those are being taken in line with the market demand, what kind of curriculum will be there, whether moral education is being given alongside vocational education, and whether the equipment is modern.”
A review of official documents shows that the project to build one Technical School and College (TSC) in 100 upazilas each was first launched in 2014. At the time, the estimated cost was set at BDT 9.24 billion, with a completion target of June 2016. However, as less than a quarter of the work was completed within the deadline, both the budget and duration were extended. Even now, in 2025, the two-year project has not been completed.
Recently, the Directorate of Technical Education submitted a third revision proposal to the Planning Commission. On August 12, the Commission’s Socio-Economic Infrastructure Division held a Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting where it was recommended that the project deadline be pushed further to June 2027. With the proposed cost escalation, the total expenditure will rise to BDT 25.25 billion. Planning Commission sources said that as of June 2024, the project had spent BDT 18.35 billion, with a physical progress rate of 76.23 percent.
Meanwhile, without completing the 2014 initiative, ousted Sheikh Hasina’s government launched another project in January 2020 to build 329 additional TSCs in an equal number of upazilas. That project, too, was originally scheduled to be completed by December 2025, with an allocation of BDT 205.26 billion. Officials at the Planning Ministry now acknowledge that this project is also likely to require an extension.
Dr. Kaiyum Ara Begum, Secretary and Member of the Socio-Economic Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission, told Bonik Barta, “Even if we want, we cannot shut down the project, because a lot of work has already been completed under it. The government is also prioritizing technical education. The number of educated unemployed is rising rapidly in the country. In this situation, there is no alternative to an employment-oriented education system.”
Meanwhile, those involved in technical education say that the lack of a modern curriculum and enough skilled teachers, negative perceptions among parents, poor promotion of technical education, and the absence of suitable employment opportunities are keeping these institutions from attracting students, leaving a large number of seats vacant. In their view, unless these problems are resolved, technical education will not deliver the desired results.
According to data from Education Watch 2022, a research report published by Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), more than 70 percent of teachers in technical institutions believe that most technical and vocational courses are outdated compared with current market demands. In addition, about 65.9 percent of teachers pointed to the lack of advanced technical equipment as a challenge, while 48 percent cited a shortage of teachers as one of the major obstacles in technical instruction. Among the survey participants, 43 percent recommended upgrading equipment and modernizing the curriculum as part of a long-term plan to overcome these challenges.
The gap between market demand and technical students’ skills has also been highlighted in various government research reports. A large portion of technical students enroll in diploma in engineering programs after completing secondary school. But even after finishing their degrees, many remain unemployed. A 2021 study by the National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM) found that among diploma graduates, 54 percent were employed, 4 percent were entrepreneurs, 38 percent were unemployed, and 4 percent were not interested in jobs. The unemployment rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. In rural regions, only 48 percent of diploma graduates were employed. The same study showed that among those employed, 65 percent worked in private institutions, 24 percent in individual businesses, 6 percent in autonomous bodies or NGOs, and 5 percent in government offices.
One of the main goals of technical education is to produce skilled workers for overseas labor markets to boost remittance earnings. However, a report by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) says that in 2024, a total of 1,011,969 Bangladeshis went abroad for work. Of them, only 214,044 were skilled workers, accounting for only 23.62 percent of total migrant workers that year. During the same period, 491,480 people, or 54.23 percent, migrated as low-skilled (unskilled) workers. The data shows that more than half of Bangladesh’s labor exports are unskilled or low-skilled workers. In addition, a total of 159,128 people, or 17.56 percent, migrated as semi-skilled workers.
Regarding the large number of vacant seats in technical education institutions, Engineer Md Ruhul Amin, Chairman of the Technical Education Board, told Bonik Barta, “Countries whose economies, including China, developed the fastest, those states that advanced rapidly, all achieved it through technical education. Bangladesh must also focus on technical education to become a developed country. This is why the government is expanding institutions. However, we face several challenges, including a shortage of teachers, inadequate publicity, and a lack of public awareness about technical education, which act as obstacles to its development. Particularly, the negative perception of technical education among students and parents is a major barrier. Most people are unaware of its proper application and significance. They think it is for less talented students. Parents still do not want their talented children to study in technical institutions. Moreover, general educational institutions do not want their students to enter vocational streams. They create obstacles for students in various ways. These are the reasons seats remain vacant. Therefore, publicity must be increased, and proper evaluation and opportunities for technical students in the workplace must be ensured so that students become interested in this stream.”
Md Ruhul Amin added, “Currently, the teacher shortage in these institutions is being addressed as quickly as possible through recruitment. Recently, nearly 1,600 new teachers have joined. However, to increase student enrollment in this sector, the government needs to make certain policy decisions alongside infrastructure development. It is necessary to clearly determine how many institutions there will be in each stream and how many students will enroll in them.”