National University (NU) has launched a comprehensive initiative to provide ICT training to 12,000 college teachers across the country to align higher education with contemporary labour market demands. Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr ASM Amanullah announced the programme during a press conference held at the university’s city office in Dhanmondi on Friday.
Professor Amanullah said that the university is implementing various measures, including curriculum reforms, to ensure education remains relevant to the needs of the industry.
With 2,284 affiliated institutions spanning 500 upazilas and approximately 4 million students, the university aims to transition towards a more skill-based and technology-driven system. This initiative is designed to support government priorities regarding youth development, job creation, and higher education reform.
In response to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the digital economy, National University has made ICT courses mandatory at the undergraduate level. The curriculum for these courses was developed in collaboration with the government’s a2i project and UNICEF Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to formally inaugurate the training programme on 7 June morning at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre. During the event, the Prime Minister will also launch the university’s Multi-Language Institute and the “One Student One Tree” project, which aims to plant 20 million trees over the next five years.
To facilitate the ICT training, 89 core trainers and 840 master trainers have already been prepared with technical assistance from a2i and UNICEF Bangladesh.
The vice-chancellor highlighted that the ultimate goal is to create a future-ready workforce, enhance entrepreneurship and freelancing capabilities, and strengthen industry-academia linkages. Currently, this linkage stands at 10%, but the university plans to increase it by 10% annually, targeting 50–60% by 2030.
Addressing linguistic barriers to employment, Professor Amanullah noted that the Multi-Language Institute has been established to offer students the opportunity to learn a third language in addition to Bengali and English. While activities have already commenced in several Dhaka-based colleges, the programme will eventually expand nationwide.
The Vice-Chancellor expressed optimism that the proper implementation of these reforms would significantly transform the country’s socio-economic landscape in the near future.
The press conference was also attended by NU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Md. Lutfar Rahman, Treasurer Professor Dr ATM Jafarul Azam, and Registrar Molla Mahfuz Al-Hossain.
