Bangladesh Eyes China’s Powerful Education–Industry Model to Drive National Growth: Education Minister
Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milan said Bangladesh wants to follow China’s strong industry-academia linkage model to establish more effective connections between education and industries in the country.
“During our visit to China, we saw that their industry-academia linkage is very strong. We also want to follow that model,” the education minister said. He added that China’s education system is highly developed and that the country is also providing scholarships to Bangladeshi students.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after a meeting titled “Strategic Partnership Between Bangladesh and China in Education” held at the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
A Bangladeshi delegation, led by the education minister, visited China from August 25 to 29. The delegation also included Prime Minister’s Education Adviser Dr Mahdi Amin and Secretary of the Technical and Madrasa Education Division Md Daud Mia. Various aspects and achievements of the visit were presented at the meeting.
One of the major outcomes of the visit was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the China-Bangladesh Vocational Education, Training and Research Centre. The initiative will create opportunities for cooperation in technical training, bilingual educational materials, education-industry linkages, research, industrial training, visits to China and specialised training.
Three cooperation platforms were also inaugurated during the visit. These are the China-Bangladesh Vocational Teacher Training Centre, the Bangladesh Vocational Education Research Centre and the Bangladesh “Chinese Language + Skill Development” Cooperation Centre.
The meeting described these initiatives as important steps towards a long-term partnership in education between Bangladesh and China. The stakeholders hope that the initiatives will help establish stronger links among education, practical skills, industry requirements and future employment opportunities for Bangladesh’s youth.
Meanwhile, the education minister said steps have been taken to simplify the visa process for language teachers coming to Bangladesh from China. He said there had previously been some complications in the visa process for Chinese language teachers coming to Bangladesh, but initiatives have now been taken to make it easier. He also said that the visa process for Bangladeshi students travelling to China has already been simplified.
Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milan, Prime Minister’s Education Adviser Dr Mahdi Amin, Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division Abdul Khaleque, Secretary of the Technical and Madrasa Education Division Md Daud Mia, Secretary of Primary and Mass Education Jesmin Nahar, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen and the Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy were present at the meeting.
