Asian Development Bank (ADB), a Manila- based lending agency, will provide Bangladesh with 350 million US dollars to help public and private institutions scale up skills training for 1.25 million young workers.
“The fund would be disbursed so the young workforce is well- equipped to find jobs and meet the changing needs of today’s labour market,” said an ADB statement.
Two thirds of the Bangladesh workforce had only minimal education and only four percent has received any kind of training.
The skills development system can only meet about 20 percent of training needs, meaning many youth cannot find good jobs, under employment is rife, and wages remain low. Women, in particular, suffer from a lack of skills training.
“Bringing together the public sector with the private sector to provide the vocational and technical skills that employers need will mean more and better- paid jobs and ultimately help Bangladesh shift its economy to a higher level,” said Sungsup Ra, Director in ADB’s South Asia Department.
By 2025, Bangladesh is expected to have 78 million workers, up from 56.7 million in 2010. However, Bangladesh will only be able to take advantage of this demographic shift if it makes urgent investments in higher- quality schooling and at least a four- fold increase in skills training. The government’s National Skills Development Council has been working to promote skills since 2011 as part of its vision of achieving middle-income status by 2021.
The total cost of the government’s Skills for Employment Investment Programme is estimated at $1.07 billion. ADB loans for the programme will be made in three tranches as part of a seven- year financing facility. It is expected to be complemented by $200 million in co- financing from the Government of Bangladesh, $30 million from the Government of Switzerland, $400 million from other development partners, and $90 million from the private sector.
The investment programme will support skills training in 15 priority sectors, starting with six sectors: garments and textiles, leather, construction, light engineering, information technology, and shipbuilding. A major target of the programme is to boost job placement to around 70 percent from about 40 percent now.
The first $100 million tranche of the facility is expected to be signed in the coming weeks with the second expected in mid- 2016 and the third in mid-2018.
The first tranche will target 40,000 women and disadvantaged people, including those with disabilities.
It will also support 32 public training institutions under three ministries, nine industry associations, microcredit organization Palli-Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), and Bangladesh Bank Small and Medium Enterprise Department.
By 2015, the programme aims to help set up a National Human Resource Development Fund to scale up skills training. The programme will also support the government’s plan to establish a new ministry or authority for skills development.
