The government has initiated a move to strengthen and modernize the existing training institutes and training centers of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) in a bid to create skilled manpower in driving profession.
BRTC under the Roads and Highways Department will implement a project to this end titled ‘Strengthening and modernization of 3 training institutes and 17 training centers of BRTC to impart training for building skilled drivers,” at an estimated cost of Taka 15.39 crore to be implemented by June 2019, said a senior Planning Commission official.
The official told BSS that this project has recently been apprised at the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at its latest meeting.
The project will be implemented at Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna and Barishal Division.
According to the Development Project Proposal (DPP), the existing training institutes and centers under the BRTC are being run to meet the growing demand of driving professionals both at home and abroad.
But, the training institutes and centers of BRTC are in a very dilapidated and fragile condition and there are no modern equipments and machineries there to impart training.
So, there is a need to make the existing training institutes and centers time befitting. Side by side it is also not being possible to provide standard training from these centers due to the lack of sufficient training cars.
Talking to the national news agency, another official at the BRTC said that the government has already undertaken a plan to create some 1,00,000 skilled drivers under the Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP).
Out of that number, BRTC will impart four-month (360 hours) training to some 36,000 drivers to improve their driving skills and efficiency.
Besides, the drivers would also be given one-month heavy duty driving training on heavy vehicles. Apart from this, training will also be imparted on language proficiency in English and Arabic so that they could get job easily in abroad.
“Under the circumstances, this project has been drafted and thus approved to improve the infrastructures of these 3 training institutes and 17 training centers of BRTC alongside installing modern training equipments there,” added the official.
Earlier on March 20, 2018, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal approved the project as such kind of project below the outlay of Taka 50 crore does not require approval from the ECNEC.
