The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M Alimullah Miyan

Bangladesh is endowed with people, but has very limited natural resources and financial capital. By developing the people into human capital, we can overcome some of the limitations of our physical capital and at the same time lay the basis of generating capital resources. Education and skill development are the route for creating human capital.

The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) is making continuous efforts to expand the educational base at primary, secondary; higher secondary and higher levels despite serious resource constraints. The targeted education of women with stipend and tuition waiver upto Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) level is an example of this effort. Although there is an uneven spread of education, most villages of Bangladesh and every urban and semi-urban ward/moholla have many young men and women with higher secondary level educational qualification, if not higher. However, most of these people are educated in non-marketable skills or cannot pursue higher education due to opportunity /resource constraints, and are unemployed. A way out should be found to transform the investment in their education upto HSC level into productive direction through further investment in marketable knowledge and skills. This is the basic premise of the knowledge based development concept.

The area based development approach (rural and urban) is now going on under the umbrella of micro-credit by the government and non-government organisations (NGOs) targeted to ultra-poor and certain special segments of population. This micro-credit has obviously contributed to alleviation of poverty to some extent but has not created prosperity for the recipients for many reasons. Most people continue to remain in the cycle of poverty and do not get an opportunity to break out of the poverty trap.

Under the KBAD, youngmen/women from each village/ward would be given an opportunity to go for higher education and acquire a degree/diploma/post-higher secondary certificate in marketable (within and outside the country) knowledge and skills. Such educated/trained persons would be expected to make efforts to pull up their family; neighbours and the village community through access to knowledge for economic and social development. The achievement of the individual will also have a demonstration effect in the village and act as an eye opener to other young people in the village. This can also bring hopes and dreams to the impoverished village community. The young men or women should have the minimum qualification (HSC, i.e. l2 years of formal education) or equivalent to gain entry to an university level institution.

Financing would be a barrier to realisation of the Knowledge Based Area Development concept. It is expected that the family of the individual would bear the cost of such education/training. However, the prevailing economic situation may not permit most families to bear the cost. The introduction of an Educational Loan Scheme can partially alleviate this problem. The GOB or/and NGOs should consider developing and operating such an Educational Loan Scheme. Eventually an Educational Bank (Shikkha Bank) may be established to facilitate access of the middle class and poor to market-oriented higher education for social mobility and as a step towards realising the vision of Knowledge Based Area Development approach. In this process, it may be possible to break away from the poverty cycle for many. The Education Bank could be the conduit to finance such persons on easy terms but on a repayable basis. This would be a radical approach to break the poverty cycle but this might also work as a catalyst as well as a role model.

The Education Bank can also finance educational institutions on easy terms for institution building but on repayable basis and also provide loans to teachers for higher education and training. The capital for Education Bank can be mobilised through grants and loans from development organisations, share subscription from individuals with expectation of modest return on capital, and philanthropic orientation. Development of human capital of the society would be the intrinsic return to donors, while financial return at a modest rate would be an additional return to subscribers. The Education Bank is to be operated on business principles but targeted to investment in education, skill development and institution building activities relating to the same. The Education Bank can take the form of an educational cooperative.

IUBAT has set out the long term vision of producing one technical graduate from each village/ward under the KBAD concept as a step towards community self reliance. To materialise this vision and to translate the concept into reality, IUBAT has special provision for supplementing the family resources of a student through scholarship, grant, fee waiver, deferred payment, campus job, student loan and the like. It is IUBAT policy to cater to the needs of all qualified students who aspire to higher professional education-regardless of the income level of his/her family through appropriate educational financing arrangements.

To institutionalise the educational financing IUBAT has established an educational cooperative in the form of IUBAT Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd. (IMCSL, with a share capital of 50 million taka divided in 500 thousand shares of Tk 100 each. One of the prime objectives of IMCSL is to mobilise funds for providing educational loan and scholarship to the members and their dependents to help them pursue higher education and professional training. IMCSL can be a prelude to establishment of an Educational Bank with a wider mandate. Anyone can contribute to the share capital by becoming a member and pave the way for educational loan.

IUBAT has also introduced the Career Development Loan scheme for students out of the IMCSL as well as the Financial Assistance Fund (FAF). Besides facilities of deferred fees payment have been introduced at IUBAT. Loans under FAF are free of any service charge, while loans from IMCSL or deferred payment from the university carry service charges. Students after graduation and employment are required to repay the loan on easy monthly installments, consistent with the earning potential of the degree/diploma/certificate.

Through this process, IUBAT is already practising the concept of Knowledge Based Area Development to a limited extent. To realise the concept on a wider scale, it is proposed to pick up one young man or woman from each village/ward and give him/her a degree/diploma/certificate in marketable skills on the basis of self financing or in combination with deferred tuition payment facilities to be extended by IUBAT or Career Development Loan to be availed from IMCSL or from the FAF of IUBAT To make the concept operational, each educated member of Bangladesh society, who made productive use of their education, is urged to motivate one HSC or equivalent passed young man or woman belonging to his/her place of birth (village/ward/moholla) to enroll in any of the degree/diploma /certificate programmes of IUBAT. Professional educational programmes presently available at IUBAT include subjects like business administration, computer science, engineering, agriculture, economics, hospitality and tourism and nursing.

Besides motivation to enroll, the referee should make an assessment of the individuals family's ability to pay the relevant university fees during the study period and recommend to the university authority for granting of a loan under the deferred payment facility of IUBAT or other alternatives for those who do not have the ability to pay the full fees during the study period. Referral may also be made to other universities or institutions having professional educational programmes with financial support facilities.

Furthermore, the concerned member of the society should assist in development of the referred student through encouragement and psychological support during his/her difficult educational transition period. IUBAT will send a copy of the result of the student every semester, until graduation, to the referee for information and continued motivational support. This will enable the individual to observe the outcome of his/her referral effort for development of an individual.

Through such enrollment motivation, facilitation, and encouragement during the study period each educated person will have an opportunity to repay his/her debt to the place of birth by facilitating knowledge/skill acquisition for area development and lay the seeds for community self reliance.

The Knowledge Based Area Development concept is a bold attempt to prepare a section of the population to break out of poverty and enter into an era of prosperity. This knowledge based development will require considerable financial capital resource as well as institutional infrastructure.

Active participation of every educated individual of the country in building a prosperous Bangladesh based on knowledge will give rise to a drive towards nation building. This will be worth emulating paving the way for development of the country as a prosperous self-respecting nation.

(Dr. M. Alimullah Miyan is the VC, IUBAT, Dhaka)