Trained caregiver for overseas market

MEDIA reports said that at least 12 countries including, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China have offered highly-paid caregiver jobs to Bangladesh nationals, mainly for female to take care of their elderly people – either at home or at old homes now rapidly growing in number with the rise in old age population in those countries. The negative birth rates in those countries is failing to line up enough younger people to look after people in old homes as their family members have no time to look back.

Reports said Bangladesh government has already signed deals with some foreign recruiting firms to send caregivers in those countries with six months training and familiarizing with spoken languages of the recipient countries. In our view Bangladesh should not entertain overseas request for sending unskilled and lower educated female workers in the first place because they are easily vulnerable to exploitation.

In the new destinations of employment outside Middle East, where our female workers were also severely exploited and abused, there is a growing fear that in new countries in Asia, Europe and America, may be equally vulnerable. Many of our female workers who went to Hong Kong as housemaid few years back returned home with terrible tales of sexual harassment. So in our view only properly educated and skilled unemployed women and nurses who are capable to face challenges may be recruited. We have many male and female nurses looking for job. In fact they may be fit to effectively handle old age people mainly suffering from disability, old age diseases, and mental disorder.
We must say the concerned authorities should ensure fair treatment of our workers under the deal as per ILO standard. There should be mention of specific working hours and be entitled to over-time benefits. They should have health insurance and other welfare benefits.

We feel, higher education and vocational training must be devised in the country keeping in mind the changing demand for service demand for at home and abroad. The world is changing with changes in demand for manpower in every sector. High tech automation no longer requires more human hands in industrial production but in areas like old age nursing, demand for human services is only growing. We must say we should plan skill development of our manpower accordingly.