Bangladesh ‘lagging’ on Coursera's 2020 Global Skills Index

Bangladesh markedly lags in skill proficiencies in the domains of business, technology, and data science, according to the 2020 Global Skills Index (GSI). 

Among 60 countries, Bangladesh ranked 47th in business and 57th in both technology and data science.

The index was published by Coursera, a popular online learning platform, this week.

The second edition of the report benchmarked skill proficiencies across 65 million learners in 60 countries, 10 industries and 11 fields of study under the three domains during the past 12 months.

Countries were ranked under four proficiency levels: cutting edge, competitive, emerging, and lagging. Bangladesh was classified as lagging in all three domains.

In the previous edition, Bangladesh ranked 59th in business, meaning the country has climbed up 12 notches. So, Bangladesh, in practice, improved in its day-to-day running of business.

However, the country is well below neighbouring India (ranked 34th), which secured the emerging level in business. Pakistan ranked 49th in this domain.

Switzerland, Austria and Denmark are the top three countries in the rankings.

Gloomy picture in technology, data science

Bangladesh slipped a notch in technology and remained in the same position in data science on the index.

This means it is still among the lowest-skilled countries in the areas such as: computer networking, software engineering, human computer interaction, statistical programming, and machine learning.

In the fourth industrial revolution, it is necessary to improve these skills.

Pakistan ranked below Bangladesh in both technology (59th) and data science (58th).

Although India outperformed Bangladesh by a large margin in technology (40th), it was placed at the lagging level in data science (51st).

Russia topped both the technology and data science domains.

During the pandemic, as educational institutions are closing, the demand and importance of online learning platforms has skyrocketed. Not only students, but many service holders have also improved their skills to sustain their current jobs and prepare for the post-Covid-19 period.

CEO of Coursera Jeff Maggioncalda said, "As we begin to revive jobs and economies, it will be important to understand the impact of the crisis on the skills landscape. The second edition of Coursera's Global Skills Index provides an in-depth analysis of the state of skills across countries, industries, and fields of study."

The report found countries with higher internet access and GDP per capita tend to have more skilled talent. Industries with a highly skilled workforce can reduce the adverse effects of Covid-19 and provide higher returns.