Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said technical education and suitable employment opportunities for the women were crucial for women empowerment in the country.
“Recently the technical education institutes are drawing more number of male participants … but proportionately the number of women is not rising,” he said this on Tuesday while addressing education programme of newly admitted first-year students of four-year Diploma in Engineering at Dhaka Women Polytechnic Institute at Agargaon here.
He added that the women with technical background should enjoy a liberty in choosing their employment after managing their families.
The government has already constructed four women polytechnic institute in the divisional cities of Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna, said the minister, adding that construction of additional four women polytechnic institutes in the divisional cities of Barisal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh are underway.
The reserve admission quota of 10 per cent for the women students has increased to 20 per cent at 49 public polytechnic institutes for encouraging the women in technical education, he said.
Chaired by Principal of Dhaka Women Polytechnic Institute Mohammad Mojaher Hossain, the programme also was addressed, among others, by Education Secretary M Sohrab Hossain, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Director General of the Directorate of Technical Education Ashok Kumar Biswas and Project Director of Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) M Imran.
