· Bangladesh signs $150M ADB loan to upgrade vocational education and teacher training.
· Over 10,000 TVET instructors to be trained, benefiting 250,000+ students nationwide.
· Focus on five key technology sectors to boost job creation and global competitiveness.
The Government of Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed on a $150 million loan deal to upgrade the nation's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system. The project seeks to increase access to quality skill-based training and enhance employability, enabling Bangladesh to compete more effectively in the global labor market.
The pact was inked in Dhaka by Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, the Secretary for the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Hoe Yun Jeong, Country Director of ADB for Bangladesh.
This financing, implemented under the "TVET Teachers for the Future" programme, employs result-based financing to assist the government's Integrated TVET Development Action Plan. It targets increased access to contemporary teacher training especially in remote areas outside Dhaka and enhanced pedagogical as well as technical competencies of instructors, particularly in emerging technologies.
The program seeks to train and develop at least 10,000 new and incumbent TVET teachers by program end, indirectly impacting more than 250,000 students nationally. It will also establish a country-wide system of continuous professional development to provide sustainable long-term quality, relevance, and sustainability to vocational education.
It aligns with Bangladesh's economic diversification agenda and will focus on five priority technology clusters: mechanical, electronics and electrical, ICT, civil, and food and agriculture. "It promotes employment creation, tackles poverty and exclusion non-income dimensions and enhances access to good jobs and global competitiveness," Jeong explained.
Established in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 member countries, including 50 from the Asia-Pacific region, and works to support inclusive, sustainable, and resilient development across the continent.
