Manpower training unit at UZs planned

UNB, Dhaka :The government has taken up a plan to set up at least one training centre in each upazila of the country as it puts more emphasis on creating skilled manpower as this force proved more dependable in bringing foreign exchange compared to other exporting items.The Awami League-led government has also fixed a target of sending 37 lakh manpower abroad during its current tenure as against 24.51 lakh manpower in its previous tenure.Considering the high demand of skilled manpower around the globe, the government has decided to make some extra efforts to groom the outgoing manpower as skilled ones.In this regard, the government has declared the manpower export sector as the thrust sector.Currently, the training institutes across the country could train up to 74,000 persons a year. In a bid to double this number, the government has taken up a project to set up 27 more training institutes and five institutes of marine technology.The five institutes of marine technologies will be set up in Faridpur, Munshiganj, Chandpur, Bagerhat and Sirajganj. On completion of the project, each district of the country will have one training centre each.At present, there are 37 training institutes in the country and one institute of marine technology in Narayanganj providing training in 48 employment eligible trades. In the last five years, these institutes trained 326,865 persons. Now Bangladesh each year exports five lakh of manpower to various destinations across the globe.The total training centres and marine institutes with 27 new training institutes and five institutes of marine technology will be able to train 150,000 persons each year. That means some 350,000 persons going abroad are unskilled.Targeting these unskilled persons, the government adopted the plan to set up one training centre in each upazila where the outgoing manpower will be able to get training in their chosen trade.Currently, some 87 lakh expatriate Bangladeshis in 159 countries around the world are sending valuable foreign exchanges, helping the country to stand on a strong base economically.The remittance inflow increased year after year and it stood at US$ 13.84 billion in 2013.Apart from the traditional destinations, Bangladesh is now sending manpower to Mauritius, Poland, Sweden, Belarus, Papua New Guinea, Sicily, Algeria, South Africa, Angola, Congo, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Romania, Australia, Canada, Russia, Sudan, Hong Kong, The Maldives and Thailand.Recently, Malaysian Home Minister Dr Ahmed Zahid Hamidi expressed his government’s keen interest to recruit 150,000 Bangladeshi farm-workers for the development of its agriculture sector.The Malaysian Minister while making a call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Parliament Bhaban office put emphasis on imparting training to the workers and said his country would recruit more skilled workers in different sectors.Besides Malaysia, many countries also want only skilled manpower now whereas couple of years back these countries never mentioned the skilled manpower in their demand letters.