The government is to introduce several new training courses for youths to turn them into skilled workers for job markets both home and abroad.
These new proposed training include courses on AutoCad, dairy product processing and marketing, meat processing and slaughter house management, salesmanship, housekeeping, plumbing, rod binding and tiles fixing.
The Department of Youth Development (DYD) under the Ministry of Youth and Sports is to organise these training courses for youths between the ages of 18 and 35. Around 1,200 youths are expected to benefit from the diploma courses of three months to one-year duration.
The allocation of revenue budget is Tk 28.94 crore and development budget Tk 24.88 crore for the department in the fiscal year 2008-2009, a ministry official said.
Meanwhile, the government is to discontinue its six-month long steno-typing courses as typing posts have been cut down in both public and private sectors.
Golam Mahbub, Assistant Director of Dhaka district office of DYD, told The Daily Star “We plan to provide training on modern office management and computer applications instead."
The DYD also holds vocational and skill development training courses for the 4.50 crore youths of the country. The courses are designed to equip young people with skills to work efficiently both at home and abroad.
Courses include training on livestock, poultry, fishery and agriculture, aquaculture (fresh and coastal water), basic computer skills, graphics and video editing, electronics, electrical wiring, refrigeration and air-conditioning, secretarial science, block, batik and screen printing and dress-making.
The department at present is also providing new courses for potential migrant workers. These include housekeeping and laundry operations, food and beverage service, pattern making, modern office management and computer application, poultry rearing, bird-flu control, bio-diversity management, mushroom production, hair dressing, sweater knitting, linking and sewing machine operating, English, Korean and Arabic languages etc.
The DYD has one national youth centre, 70 technical training centres, 55 livestock, poultry and pisciculture training centres, 68 dress-making centres, nine block and batik training centres, five centres for secretarial science, 32 centres for steno-typing, one human resource development centre and four zonal human resource development centres across the country.
The government since 2005 is running three five-year projects for youth development. These include training programes on electrical wiring in 41 districts and electronics, air-conditioning and refrigeration work in 55 districts.
Only 7,619 persons have received training under these schemes till June 2008 though the target was to train 24,160 youths by June 2009, sources said.
The government also runs a project titled “Innovative management of resources for poverty alleviation through comprehensive technology (IMPACT) Project” which trains people to establish bio-gas plants through utilisation of solid waste and animal waste.
Meanwhile, the government also runs a project “Youth Empowerment through Life skills Education and Livelihood Opportunities” to create awareness regarding reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS and gender among adolescent girls and boys.
This project which began in January 2006 targets training to 16,122 people by December 2010. However, till June 2008 only 9,917 youths were trained.