Among the youths of Bangladesh, 86% have access to smartphones, overall 72% use the internet, while 28.3% have recently searched for materials and training related information on technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
A baseline survey on the youth’s perception about skills development training and post-training employment recently conducted by Brac reveals this picture, reads a press release published on Thursday.
Most (65%) of the young people who have participated as respondents in the survey, identified Facebook as the most effective digital platform for raising public awareness on TVET.
This information and observations came at a national-level exchange-of-view event titled “Changing perspectives of youths regarding vocational education in Bangladesh” organized by Brac on Thursday.
Director general (Grade-1) of NGO Affairs Bureau under the Prime Minister’s Office KM Tariqul Islam, Executive Chairman (secretary) of National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) Dulal Krishna Saha, and lawmaker and President of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BWCCI) Selima Ahmad attended the event as special guests, added the statement.
Winnie Estrup Petersen, ambassador of Denmark to Bangladesh, spoke at the event as the guest of honour. Chaired by Asif Saleh, executive director, Brac, the event was also attended by a number of high officials from government and non-governmental agencies.
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While carrying out its different initiatives Brac’s Skills Development Programme (SDP) came to realize that skills development of the mass of young people will open the door to an infinite opportunity for realizing their potential leading to the country’s robust socio-economic development.
In this context, Brac SDP has undertaken this pilot project with funding from the Danish Embassy to increase people’s awareness and knowledge about the importance of TVET and the resulting potential employment opportunities. The pilot is under implementation in three divisions, namely Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.
Guests present at the event dwelt on the issue of employment generation and achieving economic prosperity through transforming the people, particularly the youths of this country into effective human resources through TVET and other kinds of skills development, read the release.
In his welcome speech, KAM Morshed, senior director of Brac, said: “Stigma is associated with skills and vocational training in the society and we must partner with communities at large and fight together against this.”
While presenting the keynote speech, Tasmiah Tabassum Rahman, current in-charge of Brac Skills Development Programme, said jobs related to technical and vocational education in Bangladesh are still considered as blue collar jobs, and this is why it is very important to create awareness and tell the society about the importance of TVET and its prospects.
Speakers at the program pointed out that despite the government undertaking a number of measures to popularize TVET, the public perception has yet to change sufficiently in Bangladesh.
Non-governmental organizations can play an important role, complementing the government efforts, in effectively changing perceptions at the community level, including in the communities living in the hard-to-reach areas, read the statement.
Winnie Estrup Petersen, ambassador of Denmark to Bangladesh, said “We need to listen to the young voices and enter into a dialogue with them under an inclusive approach.
“Stakeholders from the public private sector and partners need to think about how to change the mindsets of young people. This can be done through adequate campaigns and ultimately the youths need to be prepared with the right skills and right mindset for the changing world.”