Training to strike at root of jobless problem

The remittance flow into the country has slowed because in recent times manpower export suffered. More and more technical hands are now in demand not only in the overseas manpower markets but also at home. The Bangladesh government has a plan to set up technical training centres (TTCs) in each upazila of the country and create an efficient workforce in order to meet overseas manpower demand.

There are technical manpower training centres almost in all the district headquarters of the country. Setting up such training centres at the upazila level will help people at the grassroots level to equip themselves with the skills that will aid them in getting high wage jobs at home and abroad.

The opportunity to get suitable government jobs in the country is very limited. After completion of education, thousands of youths every year are crowding the domestic job market. But how many of them are lucky enough to get the same within the country? The unemployment problem, in fact, has taken an acute form in the country. Many of these youths, being extremely frustrated, are going abroad spending big sums of money in search for greener pastures to build future. Unfortunately, many of these jobseekers lack adequate technical education and skills for better jobs. Hence lives of these unfortunate youths in foreign lands are full of struggle, dishonour and utter frustration. Their ill luck is that many of them lead the lives of slavery abroad.

Besides, many of the ill-fated youths, cheated by unscrupulous manpower agents and human traffickers, return home without any success. They become literally paupers; many meet watery graves in the turbulent seas. Had they been adequately trained, they would not have faced such ordeals at all. But why should they so desperately want to leave their dear country for foreign lands? There are immense possibilities for the youths to become self-reliant by engaging themselves in various income-generating activities within the country. They can do it by gaining education and skills from the technical training centres. Moreover, Bangladesh employs many foreign technical hands at high wages in its mills and factories.  

However, attention has to be given so that the proposed technical manpower training centres at the upazila level are well-equipped with capable trainers and logistics. At the same time the training expense at these centres should be within the financial abilities of the low-income people in the rural areas across the country. After being trained in relevant fields from these centres, the enterprising youths can go abroad with high wage and less hazardous jobs. Those of the trained technical youths who are not willing or reluctant to go abroad can set up projects like dairy and poultry farms, pisciculture and nurseries. They may be provided with bank loans on easy terms and conditions. Others may meet the domestic demand and/or replace the foreign technical and skilled hands employed in the domestic mills and factories. In this way, they can earn honour, build a good fortune at home and abroad and achieve solvency and improve the economic condition of their families. Thus in addition to earning personal honour and reputation for them abroad, they can also brighten the image of the country and at the same time save the country's hard currency that is spent on employing foreign hands in the domestic mills and factories.

The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre. E-mail: sarwarmdskhaled@gmail.com