TDS Desk:

Bangladesh is lagging far behind in developing human resources with the skills global employers expect from graduates, according to the QS World Future Skills Index 2025. The index is based on the views of around five million employers worldwide, university rankings, research performance, and several other indicators. It assesses countries across four dimensions — graduates’ skills aligned with employer demand, academic preparedness, economic transformation, and future employability — on a scale of 100.

According to the index, Bangladesh scored 39.1 in producing graduates with skills aligned to employer demand, placing the country 67th out of 81 countries. In future-oriented academic preparedness, Bangladesh scored 65.7, while its score for readiness for the future labour market stood at 42.6. Bangladesh did not receive any score for economic transformation, citing insufficient data. The country’s overall score in the index is 49.1.

Countries with scores close to 100 are considered well prepared to place their graduates in the global job market, with skills closely aligned to employer needs. Lower scores indicate a significant mismatch between graduates’ skills and market demand, increasing the risk of losing their jobs.

Based on overall scores, the United States ranked first, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany, with scores of 97.6, 97.1, and 94.6, respectively. In terms of workplace-relevant skills, however, the UK led the index with a perfect score of 100, followed by the US with 94.4 and Canada in third place with 90.9.

Concerns over the skills gap among Bangladeshi graduates had previously been highlighted in reports by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). According to the Labour Force Survey 2023, the number of unemployed individuals with higher education stood at 906,000, up from 799,000 in the 2022 survey — an increase of more than 100,000 in just one year. A review of data over the past decade shows that the number of unemployed graduates has increased eightfold. A comprehensive report by the Taskforce on Re-strategising the Economy and Mobilizing Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development noted that 28 out of every 100 unemployed people in Bangladesh are higher-education graduates. It also found that the number of youth with higher education rose rapidly between 2010 and 2022, with unemployment at the tertiary level increasing from 4.9 percent in 2010 to 12 percent in 2022.

Professor Dr. Mohammad Ismail, vice-chancellor of Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU), said, “While the number of higher education institutions and graduates has increased over the past decade and a half, quality has not received adequate attention. Hands-on learning is essential to produce properly skilled graduates. Especially in science and technology subjects, it is impossible to develop skills without practical training. Our universities are far behind in this regard. Even many top-tier universities lack well-equipped laboratories and modern instruments, while most institutions established in the past decade operate with minimal facilities. Our teaching methods remain theoretical and rote-based, which is why we fall behind when skills are measured against international standards.”

He emphasised the need to increase allocations for research and strengthen industry–academia linkages to improve graduate skills.

The World Future Skills Index 2025 also notes that 87 percent of businesses worldwide are currently experiencing, or will soon face, skills shortages. About 56 percent of hiring managers believe technological innovation will significantly change required skill sets, while 14 percent of the global workforce will need to change occupations due to automation, digitalisation, and industrial transformation. In this context, the report recommends prioritising higher education, research, and innovation aligned with labour market needs, along with stronger industry–academia collaboration, to ensure stable economic development for any country.

Education-relevant people in Bangladesh warn that without ensuring quality education at universities, Bangladeshi graduates will face even greater challenges in the job market. AKM Fahim Mashroor, CEO of BDJobs.com Limited, said, “We have long been highlighting the skills gap among graduates. A large share of today’s graduates come from the National University and various newly established higher education institutions, where there is a shortage of facilities and qualified teachers. Naturally, graduates lack adequate skills. To change the situation, meaningful reform in higher education is essential. Higher education opportunities must be aligned with job market demand, and adequate investment is needed so institutions can genuinely produce skilled graduates.”

According to data from the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh, the country currently has a total of 163 universities. Of the 53 public universities, 22 were established over the past one and a half decades, while 56 new private universities were set up during the same period. Among these institutions, 38 have a teacher–student ratio exceeding 1:20, and 51 universities have fewer than five professors. At the tertiary level, the largest concentration of students is enrolled in colleges affiliated with the National University, Bangladesh Open University, and Islamic Arabic University. According to the UGC Annual Report 2023, the total number of students at the university level currently stands at around 4.82 million (4,821,165). The National University tops the list in terms of enrolment, with around 3.38 million (3,384,545) students, followed by Islamic Arabic University with 503,580 students. Together, these two universities account for nearly 81 percent of all students enrolled in higher education nationwide.

Employers across the world indicate that future workplaces will increasingly demand skills related to artificial intelligence, advanced technologies, and environmental sciences. In contrast, more than half of the students enrolled in higher education in Bangladesh are studying subjects under the humanities and social sciences. At the National University in particular, around two-thirds of students are enrolled in these disciplines, a trend that could make future employment prospects even more challenging for graduates.

National University Vice-Chancellor Professor ASM Amanullah said, “Our students are talented enough, but we do not have the necessary financial allocations to ensure the facilities required to significantly improve education quality. Even so, we have taken a number of initiatives. We have already decided that half of our students will be provided with technical training as well, which will help them succeed in their future careers.”

According to the World Future Skills Index, countries whose higher education institutions place strong emphasis on research and innovation rank at the top of the index. In the United States, total spending on research and development by higher education institutions stood at $81 billion in 2020, accounting for 11 percent of the country’s total R&D expenditure. Universities in the United Kingdom invested nearly $20 billion in research and development in 2020. These investments have positioned universities at the centre of scientific and technological advancement and made their graduates highly sought after in the global job market.

In contrast, only a very small share of total expenditure by Bangladeshi universities is allocated to research. According to the UGC Annual Report 2021, total research expenditure in the higher education sector during the FY 2020–21 was BDT 2.10 billion — just over 1 percent of total spending in the sector. That year, out of 158 public and private universities, six public and 27 private universities allocated no funds for research, while seven public and 42 private universities spent less than BDT 1 million on research. Although greater emphasis has been placed on increasing research allocations in recent years, the expected transformation has yet to materialise. Government funding is provided only to public universities. In the 2024–25 fiscal year, allocations for research at public universities amounted to around BDT 1.88 billion, representing 1.54 percent of the total budget. Total allocations for the country’s 53 public universities that year stood at BDT 121.85 billion.

Professor Dr. AKM Masud, director of the Directorate of Students’ Welfare (DSW) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said, “Overall, it is true that a segment of our graduates is not acquiring adequate skills. At the same time, some institutions are producing graduates of very high quality. To overcome this situation, improving the quality of education is essential. We have already introduced an outcome-based education (OBE) curriculum. One of its key strengths is that it allows assessment of how much skill students are actually acquiring. In addition, engineering programmes undergo accreditation by BAETE, which must be renewed periodically. Accreditation requires meeting several conditions, including labour-market-aligned curricula, strong industry–academia linkages, and research opportunities, ensuring education of international standards. If all higher education institutions in the country could be brought under such a framework, I believe they would be able to produce graduates with appropriate skills.”

Commenting on the overall situation, UGC Chairman Professor Dr. SMA Faiz said, “Our students are extremely talented. With adequate facilities, they can compete on equal footing with graduates from other countries. However, our universities face multiple challenges, including shortages of teachers and essential facilities, which affect education quality. We are making every possible effort to improve the overall quality of education. We have already launched the Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation (HEAT) project to expand opportunities for research. Through this initiative, research activities will be expanded.”