The government has begun the first-of-its-kind census on institutions providing technical and vocational education and trainings to find out the real scenario of their activities and the challenges they face.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutions Census 2015 that started on Tuesday will be completed by December with the publication of a report, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said.

He spoke while announcing the initiative at a media briefing at his office in Dhaka yesterday.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the National Skills Development Council under the labour ministry will conduct the census.

The objective of the census is to know the type of institutions, ownership, curriculum, number of teachers, trainers and students, lab and workshop facilities, internship facilities, employment opportunities and challenges confronted by the institutions.

On the basis of the findings, a database will be prepared and steps will be taken to improve the TVET institutions, officials said.

The database will help take up right policy decisions and help improve the infrastructural facilities of the institutions, they said.

The TVET project, a government initiative, is assisted by the International Labour Organisation and funded by the European Union.