Skill development and employment creation as tools for building Smart Bangladesh

Education Minister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury has commented that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has taken comprehensive programs for this purpose considering skill development and job creation for all as a tool in building Smart Bangladesh.

The Minister of Education made this comment in the discussion of the ‘Global Skills Forum’ organized by the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday (April 24).

The education minister said that all the development policies of the present government are based on the effort to create fair work opportunities for all. The government has taken necessary steps to improve the quality of general education as well as to expand technical and vocational education. For this purpose life and livelihood lessons and essential life experience lessons have been included in the general education curriculum. Moreover, the government has continued to invest in infrastructure development and quality improvement in technical and vocational education.

The education minister said that as a result of the continuous investment of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, the enrollment rate has increased to 75 percent. He said that the participation of girls in technical and vocational education as well as general education has increased significantly. The minister said that the rate of girls participating in the school certificate examination has exceeded the rate of boys. Participating in the discussion, Gilbert Hongbo, director general of the International Labor Organization, said that qualitative progress has been achieved in skill development as a result of the government’s recent steps. Director General Hongbo commented that Bangladesh is a shining example to the world in expanding and increasing the quality of women’s education.

In response to a question, Education Minister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury said that the government is working on the development of various economic sectors towards employment by attracting foreign investment and increasing domestic investment. For this purpose, the government is working to align the education system according to the needs of the economic sectors.

Organized as part of the Global Skills Forum, the panel discussion highlighted the success of the project implemented to change Bangladesh’s skill development system funded by the International Labor Organization, the European Union and the Government of Canada. General Secretary of Bangladesh Employers Federation Farooq Ahmed, Saki Rizwana of Bangladesh Free Trade Union Congress, European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley and representatives of European Union and Canada in Geneva participated in the discussion. The speakers applauded the government for its important support in the success of the project and said that the project could be a model for other countries’ skill development efforts.