Business Desk :
The ‘SkillFUL Conference, 2014’ jointly organised by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), European Union (EU) and Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) was held at AS Mahmud Seminar Hall, in the city on Tuesday.
Representatives from various industries, NGOs and public sectors attended the conference organised by the SkillFUL project, says a press release.
SkillFUL project, known as “Skills for Unemployed and Underemployed Labour Project” funded by the European Union (EU) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
It is being implemented by Swiss contact as the lead agency in collaboration with Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES) in six districts – Dhaka, Jessore, Sunamganj, Bogra, Nilphamari and Kurigram.
SkillFUL project is nearing completion of its 3year phase. The project organised its third conference, whereby project members aimed to discuss the challenges faced, lessons learned and results achieved in facilitating establishment of a skills training market that would cater to the poor.
SkillFUL initiate to engage training service providers (TSPs), enterprises, government organisations, community leaders and other relevant stakeholders during the project design and implementation process.
This includes facilitating assessments of the training market for various occupations, capacity building of mainly private training service providers, and in the development of training courses that respond to the needs of the world of work (enterprises) and are flexible in delivery. The project also assists in the stimulation of demand for training through awareness building, post-training support for placement of graduates, and access to financial services for training providers, potential trainees and self-employed graduates.
Over the last 3 years, 19,015 graduates, majority of them women, have completed training, of which 87pc are successfully placed at jobs for at least 6 months. The project has further assisted in capacity building of 255 instructors and 40 master trainers, development of 21 curriculum guides, establishment of 4 occupational standards, which have been approved by Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) as well as formation of the Industry Skills Council (ISC) for furniture sector.
Through the 3 awareness campaigns facilitated by SkillFUL, almost 10 million people have been informed about the importance of quality skills training in the 6 target districts. SkillFUL has also aided in creating linkages whereby 4 banks and 4 micro-finance institutions have begun offering loans to TSPs, graduates and trainees.
However, provision of financially sustainable training on a larger scale for our target group still remains a challenge. One of the key factors identified is willingness and ability of the target youth to pay for training. Access to finance also remains a challenge, as unique loan packages for the skills training market are limited because catering to this target group is not viable due to the uncertainties in repaying loans. If employment support is ensured by the TSPs, graduates have enhanced ability to repay loans, which in turn encourage financial institutions to provide loans for training. This brings us to the other factor i.e. ensuring employment for the graduates. It has been observed that training providers offering overseas employment support have flourished in the past decades. However, employment for the target group in the long run for skilled graduates in the local market remains a challenge for the training providers. If gainful employment can be ensured, training market will succeed without subsidising training.
With this backdrop, this year the conference focused on discussing the challenges and solutions in developing a financially sustainable skills training market.
