I am Mamur. Now working as electrical technician at Feni Polytechnic Institute. I completed grade eight in 2021 from the Madrasah education stream. After that I could not peruse my education. I used to live in Cox’s bazar with my family and most of my childhood was spent there. Since I had been studying in madrasa education since I was in fifth grade, I moved to Feni for further study.

I have been living in Feni since 2016. My father is working as an agriculture labourer and earns BDT 9,000 (US$ 100) per month. With that our family somehow manages the expenditure. I have three sisters and one brother. The two sisters are married. The younger sister goes to school.

While I was sitting idle one day, I heard about the various short courses for skills based technical education at the Feni Polytechnic Institute. These courses were being conducted in collaboration with the ILO Skills 21 project.

I looked at the courses and chose electrical installation and maintenance. The reason for this is that when I was young – eight to ten years old, I developed an interest in working with electrical equipment. My maternal uncle used to work as an electrician, and I used to think I could do that too.

So as soon as I got the chance, I prepared myself to become proficient in these electrical skills. The biggest consideration was that if you do this course, job security is much higher than others as an electrician has a role to play in any workplace.
Although it was a short course, our course started in June 2021 and ended in January 2022. The trainers taught our classes with the utmost sincerity and helped us all to understand.

But I think if we had more equipment in our practical classes, it would have made the training even better. Since the training is designed for our entry into the workplace in mind, the emphasis is on the ability to use hand tools as well as power tools. From the beginning to the end of House Wearing, I have learned everything from this training.

At the end of our training, while the assessment was going on, I noticed that the Feni Polytechnic Institute had announced they wanted to hire an electrical technician. After seeing this, I applied for the position and after competing with others, I got the job. My title here is Technician, Master Roll. My salary is BDT 6,000 (US$ 70). Now I can contribute to my family, even if it is a small amount, it makes a huge impact for my parents.

However, I wish I could do the Level 2 of this course. I can't because of the financial crisis. With the help of the government, the ILO and European Union, now people like us have access to such skills trainings and are seeing success. Now I want to take my potential a step further. Not just Level 2. I would also like to go abroad, if possible, with training up to Level 4 or I dream of working in a very big company in the country. I think prosperity can come if you are skilled in technical education.