EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION AND PROFESSION IN BANGLADESH
Social Work is the profession committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the enhancement of the quality of life, and to the development of the full potential of each individual, group and organizations and communities. Founded on humanitarian and egalitarian ideals Social Work has achieved profession status proving its skills by engaging in a broad range of activities within many types of settings and within many different people. The journey of Social Work in Bangladesh has started in 1953 through a short training program recommended and supervised by UN agents and evolved in different segments of welfare and problem solving area as time demanded. We can categorize the Social Work education and profession in Bangladesh in five like- Training and Academic Level, Practical or Field Level, Administrative Level, Organizational level, and Publications. In the academic level, there have some remarkable development, but other segments are in impoverished situation. In administration level, the use of Social Work knowledge and Social Worker to ensure welfare is hard to see; the organizations which will be regarded as the profession authority of Social Work are seems in hibernation, and publications on Social Work has to see with microscope. These limitations are the result of ignorance of the state policy makers, voluntary actors, academician, and concerned others. But, we need urgent to see Social Work as a profession here if we want to handle, minimize and/or overcome the arising psycho-socio-cultural problem through the absolute initiatives from all concerned.