Fund for expatriate workers' skill development

Though belated, the government has realised the need for giving a real thrust on efforts for developing skill of the country's workforce, particularly of those who are interested in taking up jobs abroad. It has, thus, decided to create a special fund for the purpose. According to a report published in this daily last Friday, the size of the fund, styled, National Human Resource Development Fund (NHRDF) would be equivalent to one per cent of the money remitted by the expatriate Bangladeshi workers annually. And the fund thus mobilised will be utilised for providing incentives, tax breaks, cash and grants to companies involved in skill development. brIf the government decision is made effective from this financial year, the size of the proposed fund could be worth US dollar 100 million -- nearly Tk. 7.0 billion. It is not, however, clear from the FE report whether a sum equivalent to 1.0 per cent of annual remittance would be made available to the proposed NHRDF on a regular basis. If the government decides to divert such a big amount to help the private sector organisations produce manpower skilled in trades and professions which are in high demand in the global market, it would be a major responsibility on the part of the ministry of finance which will operate the fund in consultation with the ministry of expatriate welfare and overseas employment. However, the track record of the ministry of expatriate welfare does not make it a credible partner for spending such a large fund efficiently. For instance, the ministry of expatriate welfare handles the welfare fund for the expatriates, built up with the money collected from oversees jobseekers. A lot of questions are being asked about the use of the fund for the real welfare of the expatriates and their families but the ministry until now has not cleared its position. brThere is no denying that the latest move of the finance ministry to help private organisations to churn out skilled manpower is a move in right direction. The country would have earned more remittances annually had the past governments given due emphasis on the issue of skill development of overseas jobseekers. Many individual South and Southeast Asian countries are fetching more remittance than Bangladesh by exporting lesser number of workers who are skilled ones. Here, the successive governments and the overseas jobseekers had never looked at the issue of skill development in right perspective. A skilled expatriate worker in a foreign country not only earns wage more than an unskilled hand but also enjoys greater job security and respect from his or her employer. What happened recently in Kuwait mainly with expatriate Bangladesh workers doing odd jobs would not have taken place had they been skilled hands. For, in no time an employing country can get replenishment of unskilled workers. But the same is not true in case of skilled workers. brThe government before making the proposed fund effective for human resource development does need to examine whether it can efficiently utilise the fund for meeting its very objectives. The finance ministry should devise some mechanism to ensure efficient and corruption-free use of the proposed fund, particularly when there would be enough scopes for the officials and the private sector organisations concerned to reach secret deals for misappropriation of the fund. Such scepticism about a move long before its start may cause many to raise their eyebrows. But the fact remains that abuse and misappropriation of government funds meant for pious objectives have been rampant in this country. So, if the finance ministry makes a cautious move right at the beginning, one might expect somewhat different outcome this time.