Vocational education: India vs Bangladesh vs Pakistan

 

Vocational education: India vs Bangladesh vs Pakistan

Aspect	India	Bangladesh	Pakistan
Governance & lead agencies	Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE); Directorate General of Training (DGT); National Council for Vocational Education & Training (NCVET); National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) (centralised but state role large). (msde.gov.in)	Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) and Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) lead TVET; growing role for Ministries of Education & Labour and donor programs. (Asian Development Bank)	Federal bodies (NAVTTC) set national standards; provinces (e.g., TEVTA Punjab) implement delivery — devolution means strong provincial role. Recent SOPs for standardisation issued. (NAVTTC)
Policy frameworks & major initiatives	Skill India / National Policy for Skill Development; National Education Policy (NEP 2020) pushes vocational pathways from school to higher education and apprenticeships. Large national targets & apprenticeship push. (India Brand Equity Foundation)	TVET development plans and sector reform programs (with donors like ADB, ILO). Policy focus on expanding access, linking industry, and TVET teacher training. National targets to raise TVET share of secondary. (Asian Development Bank)	National TVET policy documents emphasize employability & linkages; multiple reform programs (TVET SSP, provincial reforms). Focus on standardisation and aligning qualifications with industry. (Tvet Reform)
Quality assurance & qualifications	NCVET & sectoral frameworks; multiple national/sectoral Qualification Packs and Assessment & Certification mechanisms run by authorized assessment agencies. Strong push for standardized certification. (msde.gov.in)	BTEB manages polytechnic curricula; mixed quality across public/private providers; donor-supported efforts to strengthen QA and national qualification pathways. (Asian Development Bank)	NAVTTC plus provincial accreditation systems; recent SOPs aim to raise uniform minimum standards across institutes. Quality uneven across regions. (NAVTTC)
Delivery channels (institutions & providers)	ITIs, polytechnics, private training partners, NSDC-affiliated centres, school-level vocational subjects. Strong private-sector training marketplace. (NSDC India)	Polytechnics, VTI (vocational training institutes), private training centres, NGO and donor projects; plans to mainstream TVET into schools and madrasahs in expansion programs. (Asian Development Bank)	Public technical colleges, TEVTAs (provincial), private institutes, apprenticeship providers; NGOs and donor projects play supporting roles. (tevta.gop.pk)
Industry linkage & apprenticeships	Strong national push (apprenticeship reforms, industry partnerships through NSDC, placement-linked training), but variable employer uptake by sector and state. (NSDC India)	Improving engagement — donor projects and Industry Skills Councils being promoted; company-based training significant in some sectors but scalability remains a challenge. (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bangladesh)	Emphasis on skilling for domestic & overseas labour markets; provincial initiatives building industry ties but private-sector engagement inconsistent. National SSP and NAVTTC try to coordinate. (Tvet Reform)
Access & scale (enrolment / reach)	Large scale but still coverage gaps: many government targets; school-level vocational offerings uneven (reports show under 50% schools offer skill courses in some surveys). (The Times of India)	TVET enrollment growing; ADB/ILO reports state efforts to increase TVET share of secondary enrollment (targets to expand infrastructure & teachers). (Asian Development Bank)	Access varies strongly by province; overall expansion exists but quality and regional inequalities persist. Recent reform programs target scale-up. (hksmp.com)
Funding & financing	Mixed: central schemes (MSDE/NSDC) fund training, large private investments, state budgets for ITIs/polytechnics. Financing still insufficient vs targets. (msde.gov.in)	Government budgets plus donor financing (ADB, ILO, bilateral support); private/NGO contributions significant in delivery. (Asian Development Bank)	Government (federal + provincial) funds TVET institutes; donor-supported projects common; financing constraints are frequent. (Tvet Reform)
Teacher training & capacity	Dedicated DGT institutes and teacher training programmes; shortage of industry-experienced instructors remains a common constraint. (msde.gov.in)	Shortage of qualified TVET teachers; programs underway to upskill trainers via donor-assisted initiatives. (Asian Development Bank)	Major gap in qualified TVET trainers; provincial teacher development and partnerships with industry are focus areas. (tevta.gop.pk)
Main challenges	Aligning training to labour market demand across sectors & states; quality & certification consistency; coverage gaps in schools. (The Times of India)	Quality variation across providers, limited industry engagement in many trades, teacher shortages, infrastructure gaps. (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bangladesh)	Fragmentation between federal and provincial systems, uneven quality, insufficient employer engagement, financing shortages. (NAVTTC)
Recent reforms & trends (high level)	NEP 2020 alignment; expansion of skill training in schools; digital/online skilling; stronger QA through NCVET. (msde.gov.in)	Donor-backed TVET reform programs (ADB/ILO), push to integrate TVET in mainstream schooling and expand teacher training. (Asian Development Bank)	National SOPs/standardisation, TVET sector support programmes, increasing focus on employability and overseas-labour-aligned skills. (NAVTTC)