& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Achieving Middle Income Status

Bangladesh needs skilled workforce

New Generation Seminar told at DU

Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh needs to boost the skills of its workforce to increase their productivity for giving them a better livelihood and turning the country into a middle-income nation, speakers told a seminar yesterday.
They said the country did not lack infrastructure for groom i ng ski lied workers but there was a huge gap between what they learned at technical and vocational education institutions and what the country's industrial firmsand the international market needed.
Their observations came at New Generation Seminar 2013 themed "Skills Change Lives" at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban, Dhaka University.
Rotary Club of Dhaka Buriganga organised the event in association with International Labour Organization (ILO), Industry Skills
Council for Tourism and Hospitality Sector, and DI I Alumni Association.
Bangladesh's population is estimated to reach 180 million by 2030 from 160 million now and the size of the workforce will be 120 million two decades later, said Hari Pada Das, programme officer, ILO country office in Dhaka. "This population can change the fate of Bangladesh."
He stressed grooming migrant workers, as they earn two times less than their Indian peers and three times less than Sri Lankans for the same work just because of their low level of skill.
Arthur Shears, chief technical adviser of ILO, said the LIN agency was working in Bangladesh in association with the government, private sector and NGOs to develop skills of the workers.
SEE PAGE 5 COL 1
FROM PAGE 3
Abul Kashem, chairman of Bangladesh Technical Education Board, said the technical and vocational education could guarantee students jobs.
The government has moved to respond to the regular complaints of industrial firms that the graduates coming out of the country's 6,500 technical schools, colleges and institutes do not have enough skills to meet the demand of the market, he said.
Rubina H Farouq, chairman of vocational and human resources development committee of Rotary Club of Dhaka Buriganga, said competency-based training was very important for any industry instead of the current theory-based educational system.
Many graduates with good grades do not get jobs just because they do not meet the requirements, she said. "Many say there is no job. It's not true. There are enough jobs in the market. They are not being hired because they don't have the necessary skills."
She said the tourism and hospitality sector could absorb a portion of the country's two million people entering the workforce each year, which will ultimately help development and
poverty eradication efforts.
AKM Bari, chairman of the Industry Skill Council for Tourism and Hospitality Sector, also stressed the need for developing job-oriented skills.
Mohammed Nurul Alam, president of Rotary Club of Dhaka Buriganga, said Bangladeshis working abroad were hardly educated and skilled. As a result, their wages are very low and they are exploited, he said. "They should be given proper training before they migrate."
The moderator, Munir Hasan, an IT specialist, said Bangladesh needed a good number of skilled workers to achieve the middle income status.
Bangladesh can have a significant share of the trillion dollar global IT sector by preparing the country's young workforce and students with the required skills, said Shafqat Haider, chairman of Industry Skills Council for IT Sector.
Mominul Hasan, CEO of the Centre of Excellence for Leather Skills Bangladesh Ltd, said the leather sector, the country's fourth largest export earner, needed skilled workforce for increasing productivity and improving quality of the products.