Despite the significant public funds spent annually on training government employees, the impact remains limited. Many officials are transferred to different ministries soon after completing their training, while others retire immediately afterward. As a result, the acquired knowledge is rarely applied for public benefit. Analysts have urged the government to implement effective measures to ensure training experience is utilized and to prevent the waste of public money.
According to relevant sources, the government has allocated Tk 5,272.29 crore for training in the 2024–25 fiscal year. Of this, Tk 3,832.79 crore, or 73 percent, is included in the Annual Development Program, while Tk 1,439.50 crore falls under the non-development budget. Training programs are incorporated into nearly every development project, both at home and abroad, with international programs commonly labeled as educational tours.
Government officials revealed that middle- and high-ranking officials favor educational tours abroad, prompting ministries and departments to incorporate such tours into project proposals and secure approval from the highest forum of the Bangladesh Planning Commission. In recent years, government employees have also traveled abroad under these programs to inspect products purchased from various manufacturers and suppliers.
Commenting on the issue, Zahid Hussain, former chief economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office, emphasized the need for the Finance Ministry to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of development budget expenditures on foreign training.
Finance Ministry records show that Tk 18,873 crore was spent on training under the development and non-development budgets over the last five years, from 2019–20 to 2023–24. In the 2019–20 fiscal year alone, Tk 4,64.68 crore was allocated for training, with Tk 2,993.39 crore under the development budget and Tk 1,71.29 crore under the non-development budget.
That year, a seven-member team visited the Philippines and Indonesia from November 4 to 15, 2019, to study the village court system. Among them was Roxana Quader, director of a Local Government Department project on village courts, who retired within three months of completing the program. Similar cases of senior officials attending study tours shortly before retirement are common.
Mustafa K. Mujeri, former Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), told Bangladesh Pratidin that such practices raise questions about the selection process for trainees.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, spending on training and educational tours abroad under the development budget in the 2020–21 fiscal year was lower than expenditures on pleasure trips and training under the non-development budget. That year, Tk 2,833 crore was spent on training, with Tk 1,803.78 crore from the development budget and Tk 940.18 crore from the non-development budget.
As the economic crisis worsened due to the foreign exchange shortage in 2021–22, the government allocated Tk 2,777 crore for training under the development budget and Tk 1,239 crore under the non-development budget. The Finance Ministry then imposed restrictions on educational tours abroad under the development budget. However, in the following fiscal year, 2022–23, the government increased the allocation to Tk 3,914.80 crore, with Tk 2,568 crore drawn from the development budget.
Planning Ministry officials stated that despite the bar on overseas study tours funded by the government, ministries and departments continue to submit proposals for foreign training. In early March, the Local Government Department sought Tk 20 million for overseas study tours in a project proposal submitted to the Planning Ministry. Similarly, in October 2024, the Agriculture Ministry requested Tk 25.6 million for study tours as part of a proposed project on surface water use in Sylhet.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
