Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP)

The Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP) Project is an initiative of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) funded by the Government of Canada and executed by the International Labor Organization with support from the GoB. The project aims to accelerate the current efforts being undertaken by other organizations, donors and government to make skills in Bangladesh nationally recognized, accessible to all, higher quality and directly linked to jobs.

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The B-SEP project is focusing on five industry sectors; agro-food processing, tourism, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and furniture manufacturing, working through four interrelated components:

Focus 1: Institutional capacity development

Supporting the National Skills Development Council to implement the National Skills Development Policy, including developing a national human resources fund, enhancing the TVET data system to better understand the supply and demand of skills and raising the profile of skills.

A wide range of activities have been conducted over the past eighteen months. Some selected achievements include:
•  Competency-based qualification framework institutionalised further into national skills system
49 Government Polytechnics and 64 TSCs in Bangladesh to become Registered Training and Assessment Centres
64 TSCs get approval to start delivering contract training to industry
ILO supports development of National Human Resources Development Fund
Second skills governance training workshop for skills development professionals held in Sylhet
First skills governance training workshop for skills development professionals held in Comilla
Technical and Vocational Education and Training Data System goes live
Employment Support Service to be piloted in Bangladesh Institute of Glass and Ceramics
Fourth skills governance training workshop for skills development professionals held in Kishoreganj
ILO explores ways to link training and jobs in Bangladesh
52 new positions created for Bangladesh Technical Education Board to Implement NTVQF
ILO supports Bangladesh’s first international conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Focus 2: Standard, training, assessment, certification

Expanding the availability of new NTVQF programmes and supporting the adoption of new quality assurance guidelines among TVET institutions, including involving industry in the development and delivery of new competency based programmes, providing training to workplace-based and institution-based trainers and assessors and enhancing the capacity of key government agencies to support regulation and implementation of new NTVQF courses.

A wide range of activities have been conducted over the past eighteen months. Some selected achievements include:
National Competency Standards for workers in the tourism and hospitality sector accepted
New NTVQF tourism and hospitality trainers and assessors
Nationally recognised NTVQF teachers training programme launched in Bogra

Focus 3: Industry skills development

Increase engagement of industry in the skills system by establishing and supporting five new Industry Skills Councils, expanding the scope and nature of workplace learning and productivity enhancement programmes and expanding apprenticeship programmes in both the formal and informal sectors.

A wide range of activities have been conducted over the past eighteen months. Some selected achievements include:

New strategy seeks to reinvigorate Bangladeshi apprenticeship system
First public private partnership in technical education in Bangladesh
Bangladesh businesses to benefit from introduction of new global productivity improvement tools
National apprenticeship strategy takes shape
National workshop presents study findings on skills in four growth sectors
National seminar highlights ways to link industry and TVET institutions
Experts say skills key to unlocking Bangladesh's potential

Focus 4: Equitable access to skills

Increase access to skills and jobs for disadvantaged groups through the development and delivery of technical, supervisory and entrepreneurial skills for women and people with disabilities as well as supporting employment in green jobs.

A wide range of activities have been conducted over the past eighteen months. Some selected achievements include:
Partnerships for sustainable disability inclusion in private sector jobs
Launch of national strategy for gender equality in skills
ILO promotes green entrepreneurship in Bangladesh's tourism and agro food sectors
MOE approves 5% admission quota for persons with disabilities in TVET institutions
A seminar on partnerships for sustainable model of disability inclusion in tourism sector

Partners

The TVET Reform Project extends technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh primarily through the following skills-related government agencies:
Ministry of Education (MoE)
Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE)
Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB)
Directorate of Technical Education (DTE)
Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET)
National Skills Development Council (NSDC)

Contact us

If you would like printed copies of any of the materials on the website, or any further information, please contact us:

ILO Skills Programme Office
Ground floor, IDB Bhaban
E/8-A, Begum Rokeya Sharani
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh

Email us here