Skills Development in Bangladesh

Abstract

Key Messages Skills and education are immediate concerns because the imperatives of economic diversification and moving up the value chain will require higher levels of education and more and different skills. The “demographic dividend” has created a proportionately very large working-age cohort, the majority of whom are in school, implying that the educational system will have to be up to par to produce a labor force that is able to support a modernized economy for decades to come. Linkages between employers and most technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions are limited, leading to little responsiveness of TVET to job market demands. TVET could be an important element of Bangladesh’s future economic development and could be made a central focus of its education system prepare for rapid industrialization.