Technical education victim of bureaucratic bungling

A project approved in 2020, under which 329 technical schools and colleges were scheduled to be established by December 2024 is a classic case of biting off more than what bureaucracy can chew. A report carried in this newspaper on Sunday last shows the glaring gap between planning and implementation. Only one such institution has so far been completed. Even if some benefit of doubt is allowed for the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and the dislocation of the implementation process during the one and a half years' interim-government rule, this slow pace of project execution is unjustifiable. This is hardly surprising, though, because it highlights the typical laid-back procedure followed by the administrative hub of the country. Much as the government of that time may be maligned, the fact remains that projects like this are implemented by officials at the secretariat. The ministries concerned can lead the horse to water but cannot make it drink. Even the expenditure figure of Tk1.06 billion out of the total allocation of Tk205.26 billion for the project presents a pathetic look. 

So, after a review of the implementation capacity of the Technical and Madrasa Education Division (TMED) of the education ministry---responsible for the project---the Planning commission (PC) and Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) have put forward a suggestion for completing the project in two phases. This is not to the liking of the TMED and instead it has sent a revision proposal to the PC for keeping the project as it is in range and scope and extension of the deadline by three more years until December 2028. Given the past five year's performance of the TMED, expectation for completion of the project by 2028 may look far too high. The game of project review and time extension has become a bureaucratic culture. If the new government can infuse fresh dynamism into the bureaucratic body, things may be different. 

However, it is clear that the rare exception of the completion of one technical school may provide a good example of finishing the task in time. This shows that others could follow suit if there were enough will and initiatives. The seriousness required for achieving the object is missing as it happens in case of the majority projects. At a time when it is universally accepted that for the average students of the country, the best way of schooling is learning mid-level skills, the loss of five years to offer such education to a growing army of job-seekers is unpardonable. The policy was fine and things could not materialise because of bureaucratic bungling. 

So far, formal land acquisition proposals have been submitted for only 202 technical institutions and of them 150's proposals have been processed. This can hardly be considered progress. It is only on the basis of the proposal received so far, the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) has suggested immediate start to the implementation of only 202 technical schools and colleges (TSCs). The rest 127 can be accomplished in the next phase. This sounds logical. But again the cost is a crucial issue. The entire project can be downsized if the existing polytechnic institutes are refurbished to accommodate the latest models of curriculum there. Instead of going for a grand project involving construction of 329 TSCs, the existing technical institutes and the ones to be built can be streamlined under a unified curriculum matching the market demand for skills.