TDS Desk:

Government officials are prohibited from travelling abroad unnecessarily. The Ministry of Finance gave this ban keeping in mind the ongoing dollar crisis in the country. Despite that, the Department of Technical Education has taken the initiative to send 1106 officers abroad at a cost of Tk 120 crore to increase their skills. In the country’s current situation, questions have been raised about such initiatives. Many see it as an unnecessary luxury foreign trip.

On November 9, 2022, the Ministry of Finance banned all types of foreign travel by government officials at all levels which is still in place.

It is learned that special training has been arranged under the ‘Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation (ASSET)’ project run by the Department of Technical Education.

Scrutiny of the proposal sent to the Ministry of Finance is in progress.

WHAT WAS SAID IN THE PROPOSAL REGARDING FOREIGN TRAVEL SENT TO THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE–

Among the many activities aimed at promoting the technical and health education of Bangladesh to global standards, one of the significant activities is the training abroad to increase the capacity of teachers and officials related to technical education. As technical and vocational education is hands-on and skill-based, skill-enhancing overseas training for teachers is crucial, which will play an important role in building a Smart Bangladesh by 2041. Besides, it will play an important role in facing the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution.

Training abroad will help teachers acquire valuable skills and knowledge about technical, and vocational teaching methods, institutional management, curriculum, legislation, lab facilities, etc. of developed countries. Gain new insights into how to prepare students for jobs at home and abroad in a rapidly changing technological world.

Although these recommendations have been made in the proposal, the question has been raised as to how reasonable this foreign travel will be when government officials are banned from travelling abroad due to the dollar crisis.

Badiul Alam Majumdar, general secretary of Citizens for Good Governance (SHUJAN), termed the proposal of officials to travel abroad as ‘extremely sad’.

He said that the proposal given by them is not acceptable in any way. These are usually tourism. They go shopping and travel in the name of training. There is no training, no work in them. It’s just a waste of money. This is not acceptable in any way in this economic crisis of the country.

On November 9, 2022, under the management and development budget of the government, the Ministry of Finance banned all types of foreign travel of all levels of officials in a notification.

Economist Professor Anu Muhammad said that currently Bangladesh is going through an extreme economic crisis. In between a project offering 1106 officers training abroad, to me, it is nothing but ‘luxury travel’. Government officials undertake such activities within their powers.

He also said that there is no need for their training outside the country. In-country training is sufficient. Such travel is not only unnecessary during the economic crisis of the country, but also unnecessary in normal times. If the training is very much needed, two or three experts can be brought from outside the country and trained for one year. Rather it will be very useful.

According to related sources, the project named ‘asset’ is being implemented by the Directorate of Technical Education under the Department of Technical and Madrasa Education of the Ministry of Education with the financing of the Bangladesh Government and the World Bank from July 2021 to December 2026 at an estimated cost of Tk 4,299.99 crore.

Regarding the ban on foreign travel, Asset Project Director Abu Mumtaz Saad Uddin Ahmed said that there is now a ban on official travel abroad. However, we have sent a proposal to the ministry to keep the project in motion. The Ministry will consider it and take a decision. But it has not passed yet.

Meanwhile, Directorate General of Technical Education (Additional Duties) AM Ziauddin Al Mamun claimed to ‘know nothing’ about the Tk 120 crore skill development training proposal.

He said I do not have any information about the training of officials abroad. The project manager can say better about this.