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International Youth Day

Learning to work and working to learn

An ILO programme in Bangladesh shows that quality skills training can be a powerful means not only to improve a country’s competitiveness and to reduce poverty, but also to help young people find a decent job.

Feature | 10 August 2015
Amir Hamza
DHAKA (ILO News) – Amir Hamza’s parents were farmers living in a small rural village in the Faridpur district of Bangladesh. Traditionally, this would have meant that he would also become a farmer.

Amir Hamza was the first person in his family who had completed secondary education though, and he wanted to “do something different.” He pursued higher education looking for a skill that would lead straight to a job.

“I chose printing because it is everywhere, and the demand for it is growing. In Bangladesh, printed packaging is still new, but more and more printed products are being created every day,” said Hamza.

He was admitted to the Graphic Arts Institute, his first choice. He moved to Dhaka and was achieving good results in his studies, but his parents’ money soon ran out. They took a loan from a family member, and he tried several part-time jobs, but nothing could bring in enough money to cover living costs in Dhaka.

Luckily, the Graphic Arts Institute, a government-run institution, had started their first public-private partnership with a private printing company, Shamustshuk Printers Ltd, one month before, so the Institute decided to approach the printers. Within a few weeks Hamza was employed part-time. The attention to detail and dedication he showed in his training was put to use and he became a junior quality controller, and an important link between the company and the Institute.

“I use what I have learned to ensure the quality of printing jobs. In the Institute I have to pay closer attention to the practical side and at work I have to pay closer attention to the theoretical side. My learning helps my work and my work also helps my learning, and I am able to afford to live in Dhaka now,” said Hamza.

Part-time professional work is not common in Bangladesh, but industries and institutions working closer together are now starting to change that, making it easier for trainees and employers to connect. These linkages are a key objective of the current Canada-funded Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity Project, working to make skills in Bangladesh nationally recognized, accessible to all, with higher quality and directly linked to jobs.

Combining training and work

“Amir is the only first year trainee who has a professional part-time job, but many other trainees have also started pursuing professional work beside their studies,” explained Mofakarul Islam, an instructor at the Graphic Arts Institute.

“We have always structured our course in two shifts so that trainees can work if needed. People have always taken advantage of this, but previously they would be informal jobs like pulling rickshaws or running street stands,” he added.

Dr Sheikh Abu Reza, the principal of the Institute, said that these positive changes would not have been possible without the new skills development system supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Bangladesh.

Dr Sheikh Abu Reza
“Our institution has seen a lot of changes since the new national skills development system started: new industry-standard machinery, equipment and multimedia facilities, short courses based on industry demand, in and out of house training, relationships with industry, new learning materials and a website where trainees can access their course materials online. We are all excited to keep improving, as trainees, as trainers and as an institution,” said Reza.

The added value of PPPs

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) between publicly funded vocational training institutions and private enterprises are an integral part of the new skills development system. The Graphic Arts Institute was the first of five technical institutions selected by Bangladesh’s Directorate of Technical Education to implement PPPs.

The ILO is currently working with the Government of Bangladesh to reform the skills development system through two major initiatives: the Canadian-funded Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity Project, and the European Union-funded TVET Reform Project.