The delegation was led by Mr. Muhammed Habibul Islam, Deputy
Secretary, BRDB. Mrs. Fahmida Akhtar, Deputy Chief, Agriculture, Water
Resources and Rural Institution Division Planning Commission, said the
officials were focused on finding solutions for Bangladesh’s northern
region. Seasonal unemployment in the countryside is a serious lingering
problem, she said.
Welcomed to AIT by Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof.
Sivanappan Kumar, the visitors were accompanied by Mr. Wikhanes
Wongwanishwatana, a lecturer at Thailand’s Mahanakorn University.
Prof. Kumar outlined a number of options for the government agency to
engage AIT. The government could send its officials to earn Master’s or
doctoral degrees at the Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP)
field of study offered at the AIT School of Environment, Resources and
Development, he said.
Dr. Ahmad Mokbul Morshed, explained that RRDP studies a number of
rural issues such as agricultural development, migration, microfinance,
poverty, natural resources management and infrastructure development,
and master’s options for BRDB personnel would be through its regular
2-year program or its specialized professional degree program.
In addition, AIT Extension could arrange tailor-made, short-term
professional training programs based on the division’s human resources
needs, Prof. Kumar added. Dr. Zakir Hossain, Senior Program Specialist,
said that of the eight capacity building programs currently run by AIT
Extension, two are for Bangladeshi clients.
AIT would be also happy to explore ways in which its current students
and researchers could benefit the country. Many postgrads, including
those from Bangladesh, conduct their fieldwork research in their home
countries, Prof. Kumar said, and some of their theses and dissertations
might have value for the country.
One of the delegates, Mr. Saiful Islam, Deputy Director,
Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division, who completed an AIT
Extension course training in 2011, affirmed the benefits of the
institute’s training programs. “AIT can assess the client’s needs and
design an appropriate program,” he explained to his colleagues.
“We will convey these opportunities to our superiors back home,” Mrs.
Akhtar said, indicating how pleased the delegation was to discover
about the large number of AIT alumni from Bangladesh and the ample
numbers of Bangladeshi students and faculty members thriving at the
campus.
Other members of the BRDB delegation were Mr. Sahidul Islam Khan,
Director (Field Service), Mr. Bipine Chandra Biswas, Assistant Chief,
Rural Development and Cooperative Division, and Mr. Bhupendra Nath Roy,
Assistant Director, UDKONIC Project. Dr. Gabrielle Groves
Punyaratabandhu, Head, ERCO, and Ms. Sumana Shrestha, Senior Program
Officer, ERCO, also attended the meeting.
