Govt orders crackdown on job doc forgery, fraud

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus directs urgent action against forgery and fake skill-training certificates as such practices are "damaging Bangladesh's reputation" on the international labour market.
The direction was issued Sunday at a meeting of the governing board of the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) at the chief adviser's office in Dhaka, as a move gets underway to streamline the manpower sector.
The meeting marked only the second governing board session of the NSDA since its establishment in 2018, following its first meeting in 2022, said a spokesperson for the CA Office.
Speaking as chair, Yunus notes that the NSDA provides a strong framework for developing skilled human resources in line with national-and global labour-market demands, a role that will become increasingly important as international demand for Bangladeshi workers continues to grow.
"There is significant demand for Bangladeshi workers on the global market," he said. "But the use of fake and fraudulent training certificates is undermining our workers' credibility. If employers lose trust, all skill-development initiatives will fail. This malpractice must be stopped."
Emphasising the importance of national branding, Yunus said overseas employers should be confident that workers from Bangladesh would meet professional standards. "Employers should be able to say: workers from Bangladesh will perform well."
The head of interim government expressed optimism that NSDA's initiative to introduce a unified certification system across all training institutions would play a critical role in preventing fraud and restoring confidence in Bangladeshi skill credentials.
He also highlighted the creativity and potential of the country's youth, stressing that government responsibility is to open doors of opportunity for them.
Yunus called for greater coordination and transparency to enable private entrepreneurs to contribute more effectively to skills development.
During the meeting, officials reviewed progress on decisions taken at the previous governing-board session and approved steps to establish an integrated national skills ecosystem.
Under this framework, training programmes run by different ministries would follow common curricula and standards, reducing duplication and waste of public funds.
Officials hope the system would enhance the credibility of Bangladeshi certifications internationally while enabling centralised planning to better match labour supply with industry demand.
The governing board also approved NSDA's long-term strategic goals to address post-least-developed country (LDC) graduation challenges. These include conducting skills gap analyses in emerging sectors, aligning all development projects with NSDA competency standards, benchmarking the Bangladesh National Qualifications Framework (BNQF) against international standards, and bringing informal-sector workers under national certification through recognition of prior learning.
Other issues discussed included the issuance of Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDC) for trainees from marine-technology institutes under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment.
The meeting was attended by advisers for shipping and labour, industry and local government, senior officials from NSDA, and representatives from multiple ministries.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com