DHAKA : State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj today said vocational and skill-based education will be ensured by making radical changes in the country's traditional education system.

“The education system is being reorganised so that the students are not just degree holders but become skilled, moral and work-oriented citizens,” he said.

He said the main priority of the incumbent government to ensure such education that is 
compatible with skills, values and real careers.

Bobby Hajjaj made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a function of Dhaka's Tejgaon College.

He said according to the data of the World Bank, the educational skill of an average HSC student in Bangladesh is equivalent to a sixth grader in Singapore in many respects. “This reality is an alarming thing for us.”

The state minister said the main goal of the government is not just to increase the GPA by passing the examinations of students, but to ensure the students' real learning, skill acquisition and international quality education.

He said due to corruption, mismanagement and lack of foresight in the past, the overall quality of education in the country has been severely damaged. 

As a result, every year many students are deprived of the desired employment opportunities even after obtaining a higher degree, he said.

Bobby Hajjaj said the incumbent government is working to implement necessary and structural reforms in the education system to address this crisis.

He said every year a large number of students are pursuing bachelor's degrees in fields where the employment opportunities in the current market are comparatively very poor.

It is the demand of the time to come out of this trend and expand timely, career-oriented and skill-oriented education programmes, he said.

Chaired by Prof Shamima Yasmin, Principal of Tejgaon College, the meeting was attended, among others, by Vice-Chancellor of National University, Professor Dr ASM Amanullah.