Bangladesh is a developing country and a powerhouse in terms of her contribution in the fields of readymade garments industry. This has been only possible because the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has been instrumental behind providing ample opportunities, allowances and support to the stakeholders of that industry so that they perform well enough to help the country become one of the biggest garments manufacturer and exporter. But the world is shifting. Dominance in one particular industry is not enough. Bangladesh is currently going through the ‘Demographic Dividend’. This means Bangladesh has majority of the population of Bangladesh, roughly two-thirds of them are youths. The output from the youths will drive the economy towards prosperity. Such an opportunity arises once in a hundred years for a country. Therefore, the youths and the children need to be oriented in such a way so that they develop the required competencies to ensure a sustained growth for the country. As prescribed previously, Bangladesh needs to predict the shifts in employment and global markets of the future and prepare the youths to face the challenges. The world is digitizing and the intensely connected globalized world has garnered ample scopes for development. The developed nations are outsourcing or offshoring their business and technological functions to developing nations to ensure less labor expenses. Hence, the youths need to be trained and equipped with specialized technological, vocational and technical education along with the general or regular education. Various systematic and structural constraints from the very beginning of their education already creates fear and disinterest among the students to pursue science or STEM related fields in their secondary, higher secondary and tertiary levels.  Societal constraints such as poverty, parents’ ignorance and early marriage are still becoming an impediment towards a decent education for many students in the rural areas. These youths are ultimately entering the employment stage of their lives without the desired skills and ultimately succumbing to the abysmal life of unemployment. All of the industries are asking for technologically equipped workforce. Bangladesh realized this and already integrated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the National Curriculum. Along with ICT, other practical learning-based disciplines such as mathematics and science are taught in schools and colleges through a lecture-based teaching methodology. Practical education is introduced in the secondary and higher secondary levels, but the students already loose interest towards these important subjects by that time. While the other developing and developed countries have inculcated the concepts of Inquiry-based learning, STEAM education, etc. to cater to the current demands of the industry and the learners, Bangladesh is lagging behind. But the world and globalization are not. In order to compete in this intensely competitive employment market, the youths need to be properly accoutered with the 21st century skills such as team-building, collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, cross-cultural competencies, English language proficiency, etc. These skillsets are introduced ideally through the various educational methodologies addressed above. Bangladesh’s education system is trying to integrate these concepts through the curriculum and textbooks. Furthermore, the sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the education system of Bangladesh to various new barriers such as distant learning, technological incompetency of both the teachers and students, etc.  

The Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Hasina has recently proclaimed that Bangladesh is going to transform from Digital to Smart. Bangladesh already has a vision 2041 in place. It is high time we discussed how the education sector need to undergo metamorphosis in order to accommodate the demands of the future and ready our future generation with the necessary skillset to become effective and efficient human resource. With this end in view, GEIST International Foundation is looking forward to congregate all the important stakeholders of public and private sectors in the field of education in Bangladesh along with a group of educators joining from developing and developed countries of Asia and the United States and discuss the future of education in Bangladesh through the International Summit on Educational Leadership (ISEL).