Rashed Mahmud (pseudonym) lives in a village in Kaliganj, on the outskirts of Dhaka. He graduated from a public university three years ago. His family’s expectations that he would secure a good job have not yet been met.
“I use a mobile phone, but I can’t operate a computer proficiently,” he says. “Many job applications have to be done online, so I depend on others to help me.” He is among many other graduates who are in this same precarious position. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has recently published its 2024–25 survey on access and use of information and communication technology at individual and household level. The figures in the report remain stark: nearly 45 percent of the country’s university graduates do not use a computer.
During his studies, Mahmud says, he rarely had the opportunity to pick up the skill. “There was a computer lab in our department, but we hardly ever used it,” he says. “The teaching was geared towards the exams — theory, mostly.”
He is now trying to remedy the deficit, enrolling at a nearby computer training centre. “I now understand that a degree alone is worthless,” he says. “Without practical skills, nothing can be done.”
The BBS survey confirms that computer use rises with educational attainment, but the increase is disappointingly modest. Among those with primary schooling or less, just 3.8 percent use computers. The figure inches to 9.9 percent at lower secondary and climbs to 37.9 percent for higher secondary and diploma holders. But at the university level, it reaches only 55.3 percent — leaving close to half of all graduates on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Many graduates like Rashed are now falling behind in the job market for their lack of digital skills. Saiful Islam, a teacher at a coaching centre in Dhaka, told Bonik Barta: “Nearly every job now requires computer literacy. Yet our education system still doesn’t give this skill due weight.”
The BBS survey further found that, nationally, just 11.3 percent of the population uses a computer — a figure that sits at odds with the ambition of building a Digital Bangladesh. Experts argue that escaping this trap demands that the education system prioritise hands-on ICT teaching. Without it, thousands of young people will continue to hold degrees but lose out in the workplace.
Information and communication technology has been part of the curriculum since secondary school. But according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), only 40.25 percent of secondary-level institutions have a computer lab, and 33.12 percent have an ICTD digital lab. At the higher secondary level, 64.13 percent have a computer lab and 36.12 percent an ICTD digital lab. The figure is even worse among madrasahs with just 13.23 percent having a computer lab.
Experts say certificates alone do not open digital doors. In many educational institutions, pupils never acquire even elementary ICT competence. Education and computer use show a positive correlation; in reality, however, schooling by itself cannot resolve the crisis. The practical grounding in digital skills that should begin in the classroom is not happening, which means higher education leaves many graduates unprepared to compete in the digital labour market.
The contrast between rural and urban areas reflects that reality clearly. Among degree holders in rural areas, only 32.9 percent use a computer — meaning nearly 67 percent do not. In urban centres outside the city corporations, the figure rises to 67.1 percent, and inside city corporation areas it reaches 81 percent. The disparity sharpens at lower levels of attainment: among those with lower-secondary education, usage is 4.6 percent in villages, 12.6 percent in towns, and 36.4 percent in city corporation areas. The same qualification, but three different realities.
Institution-level data bring the scale of the crisis into sharper focus. Nearly everywhere in the country has electricity. Yet computer use for educational purposes remains far below where it ought to be. Nationally, only 39.8 percent of students use a computer at their institution. In villages, the share collapses to 29.8 percent — meaning close to 70 percent of rural pupils never touch a computer at school. In towns, it stands at 62.6 percent. Wide regional gaps persist: 50.7 percent of students in the Dhaka division use a computer at their institution, while the figure is 30.9 percent in the Sylhet division and only 30.2 percent in the Mymensingh division.
Internet use is growing in Bangladesh, but users are overwhelmingly mobile-based. According to the BBS survey, mobile phones account for 78.4 percent of all internet access. Computers and laptops represent a mere 10.7 percent. Digital connectivity is spreading, yet computer-based competence is not following — and that deficit is now a serious obstacle to entering professional workplaces and participating in higher-end digital activity.
Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) and a former adviser to the caretaker government, told Bonik Barta: “We’ve been talking about information technology for a long time, telling ourselves that we’re moving forward. But the reality on the ground is only natural, because we haven’t created the necessary preparedness in the workplace. A certificate doesn’t automatically confer skill. Many highly educated people can’t use basic software like MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Employers routinely complain that jobseekers lack the required computer skills.”
Drawing on the experience of remote areas, the former adviser said many primary schools possess computers but never use them. In some places, the machines sit locked inside trunks; elsewhere they are stored away untouched. Choudhury identifies three root causes: teachers lack the skill, they fail to grasp why the technology matters, and no one properly motivates the students.
The skill deficit hits the labour market directly. “This is likely one of the main reasons the number of educated unemployed keeps rising,” Choudhury said. “Where artificial intelligence is arriving, a large pool of human resources is worthless without the right skills. They will simply remain unemployed. To survive, there’s no alternative to competence. We must put our young people into computer training during the gap they have after their SSC and HSC exams.”