Bangladesh : Skills for Employment Investment Program

The Bangladesh economy has grown rapidly at about 6% annually since 2003, up from 5% in the 1990s. The poverty headcount index declined sharply from 57% in 1992 to 31% in 2010. Social indicators have improved significantly, particularly for women. However, despite impressive progress, the 2010 labor force survey indicated that more than 60% of the labor force has either no education (40%) or up to primary education (22.8%); about 2 million young people enter the labor force every year. The average wage per worker has remained low at Tk200 per day for day laborers and Tk3,500 per month for garment workers.

With the approval of the National Education Policy and the NSDP, the government embarked on major education and training reforms. The National Education Policy emphasizes the overall importance of education and training, while the NSDP reinforces the importance of skills development and opens up the sector for major policy and institutional reforms. Bangladesh has achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education participation since 2000. Women's labor force participation grew from 26% in 2003 to 36% in 2010. A major opportunity for the country comes from its declining dependency ratio, from a high of 108% in 1974 to 66% in 2010, leading to an increasing share of the working age population in the next three decades. However, this opportunity cannot be capitalized on unless urgent investments are made in much higher quality schooling combined with at least a four-fold increase in skilling and/or up-skilling of the labor force, which is expected to increase from 56.7 million in 2010 to 78 million in 2025.

In its Perspective Plan 2021, Bangladesh articulates its vision to achieve middle-income status by 2021, including reducing the poverty rate by half. To accelerate economic growth from the current 6% to 8% and above, the government must address the skills shortageone of the key binding constraints. Skills development requires a two-pronged approach. First, it must be anchored in foundational skills that come from high-quality schooling combined with relevant vocational and technical skills to capitalize on the demographic dividend. Second, it requires scaling up skills training by four to eight times the current annual training capacity to (i) increase labor force productivity to contribute to higher average household income leading to higher gross domestic product, (ii) double exports within 10 years, (iii) double remittances through higher skills leading to higher per capita remittances, and (iv) promote economic diversification including trade facilitation and industrialization.

Increased income and productivity of the working population aged 15 years and over.

Increased employment in priority sectors and skills for males and females.

The latest national data (2016-2017 Labor Force Survey) indicates:

i) formal sector employment of 14.9% (M:17.9%; F:8.2%); and

ii) unemployment for ages 25-34 at 5.7% and for ages 15-24 at 12.3%.

Comparable definition for the share of vocational training not available in the latest national report (2016-2017 Labor Force Survey).

Figures will be updated once latest national report becomes available.

Market responsive inclusive skills training delivered

Quality assurance system strengthened

Institutions strengthened

Effective program management

Output 1:

434,854 total trainees enrolled under Tranches 1, 2 and 3, of whom 31% were female. The number of certified new entrants was 343,704 out of whom 242,075 (70%) were employed. 72,572 poor and disadvantaged trainees received special stipends, of whom 50% were female.

Output 2:

RPL Program has been dropped from Tranche 1 due to overlapping efforts with the World Bank program.

As of 31 Dec 2020:

- 87 competency standards have been created and implemented, 47 of which were endorsed by BTEB; 60 learning materials have been produced and validated by the BTEB; and 87 assessment tools have been developed.

- 393,466 were certified in Tranche 1 and 2, of whom 31% were female.

- 116 public training providers have been registered with SEIP support.

- about 2826 trainers and 205 assessors have completed ToT. ToT programs ongoing in partnerships with different overseas and local institutions.

Output 3:

As of 31 Dec 2020, MTBF will be part of the revised national skills development policy discussions, which is ongoing.

Organogram of NSDA has been cleared by Finance Division. Recruitment process is expected to start soon.

NHRDF was established on 16 May 2018. Finance Division approved organogram, recruitment rules, operational manual and TVET fnancing manual for NHRDF. NHRDF has started to recruit its own staff.

Public institutes (about 116) under SEIP partnership granted partial delegation of powers for SEIP program.

Output 4:

As of December 2020, MTBF will be part of the revised national skills development policy discussions, which is ongoing.

Real time Trainee Management System (TMS) created under Tranche 1, is being used for monitoring various aspects of SEIP training. TMS established and operationalized with inputs from all training programs. Continuous improvement of the system is also ongoing.

Financial management and procurement action plan being implemented.

First tracer study and employer satisfaction survey have been completed, and the second is being prepared. The first skills gap analysis has been completed and the second is ongoing.