Research and development should get more priority both in our public and private universities to get skilled graduates to meet the local and global market demand, academicians and industry owners opined.
However, it is needed to focus on how to mitigate the requirement and skill gap, they said at a round table discussion titled “Strengthening Collaboration between the Private Sector & Academia: The Way Forward” organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Saturday (July 6, 2024), a press release said.
Academicians from different renowned public and private universities took part in the discussion to identify the challenges of industry-academia collaboration.
DCCI President Ashraf Ahmed said every year around 2 million graduates are coming into the job market, however we are unable to accommodate all of them. According to BIDS, unemployment among graduates in the country is 66%, he said. Furthermore, a World Bank survey reveals that 46% of employers struggle to find job seekers with the necessary skills, while 69% report shortages of skilled manpower for technical and managerial roles.
Experts are being hired from outside for key positions to run the industry and billions of dollars are flowing out of the country. On the other hand, due to lack of skills our manpower is not getting high paying jobs abroad. Industry- Academia need to work together to develop both soft and hard skills of our graduates, he also said.
Besides, shared efforts and contributions by universities and private sector on research of contemporary matters can enrich and create new learning on macroeconomic matters, he said.
Vice Chancellor of ULAB, Professor Imran Rahman, said around 40 percent of youth graduates are still unemployed and for them we need to do something. In our country, university students through their internship actually learn a little.
He therefore suggested for apprenticeship for better learning out of the theoretical background.
Mentioning that still many of subjects or curricula studied in the universities do not have much demand even in the global market, Prof Imran urged for popularizing ICT and science based education more and more to compete with the rapidly moving world. Moreover, private funding in the university R&D or students’ project should get tax benefit, he recommended.
Dr. Muhammad Anisuzzaman Talukder, Professor, BUET said there should have been a strong trust between the industry and academia sector. He also said that in Bangladesh, our university curriculum is quite good but in some cases few good things can be included. But frequent changes in curriculum will not bring any good result for the students, he added.
Dr. AKM Waresul Karim, Professor, North South University, Brigadier General Mohammad Saadat Hossain, ndc,psc, Dean, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), Ltd. Col. Khondoker Zahirul alam, psc, G (Retd.), Director, international affairs, BUP, Dr. Mohammad Zahedul Alam, Professor, BUP, Md. Yeashir Arafat, Assistant Director, FBS, BUP, Professor Dr. Mohammed Masum Iqbal, Dean, Dhaka International University, Dr. Md. Abdur Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor, AIUB, Dr. Partha P. Chowdhury, Professor, AIUB, Dr. Salma Karim, Professor, UIU, Dr. Md. Quamruzzaman, Associate Professor, UIU, Professor Nazmul Ahsan Khan, Dean, NUB, Khairul Alam, Assistant Professor, NUB and Dr. Khaled Mahmud, Professor, IBA also took part in the discussion.