Introducing skill based education system at UGV

By Shahin

Different studies indicate that the present higher education system in Bangladesh needs serious reforms. This system is usually based on the theoretical approach using textbooks, reference material, course outlines etc. Under this system, a certificate becomes the main purpose among the students where to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes are being neglected. Most of the academic institutions have become factory of certificate only. However, each student in the higher education who are the future professional should have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Therefore, they will be able to recognize and solve problems in social, environmental needs and national demands. Higher education will make the student creative, skilled and knowledgeable. Bangladesh is most densely populated country with small area. As per the available reports it is estimated that, in Bangladesh, currently about 4 million of the 30 million youth between the ages of 18 and 25 are enrolled in higher education with great energy, dreams and goals, and potential for productive employment. Most of these enrollments for the higher education are in the National University through different colleges in the rural areas where the instructions and examinations are in Bangla. Therefore, most of the higher educated populations in Bangladesh have lack of communication skills internationally due the lack of English. This vast number of higher educated populations can not enter into the national and the international job markets because of their lack of international language. Bangladesh’s vision 2021 gives highest importance to building skilled manpower to accomplish a poverty-free middle-income country. But we do not see any long term plan based on higher education system. However, the University of Global Village (UGV) has, since its inception in 2016, recognized the importance of greater diversity of higher education. In supporting this work, it has been recognized that there are many key considerations in developing and delivering higher education provision in university. In July, 2019, UGV introduced a new Competency Based Education, Training & Assessment (CBET&A) under a new institute, known as Skill Standard Institute (SSI), which defines a comprehensive set of competency requirements that all graduates are expected to attain. The students entering in July, 2019 and thereafter are required to demonstrate technical and communication skills in different abilities as well as a comprehensive knowledge base as a requirement for graduation. Faculty, known as Assessor, use performance-based methods to determine if students have attained competence. In CBET&A method, a student will participate in an assessment process in every semester that we call ”Level’s Skill Test”. After becoming competent at the ”Level”, the student will be allowed to participate in the next assessment ”Level”. The skill standard of each level is divided into two parts: ”Technical Skill (TS)” and ”Communication Skill (CS)”. The assessment process will be ”PASS (=competent)” or FAIL (=not competent). The implementation of CBET&A methodology, time to time creation of different skill standard ”Levels” based on the demand of the industries, Assessment process, Assessor preparation and provide training to the students will be under the SSI.
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