Home ›› 04 Aug 2021 ›› Editorial
Remittance is a dominant variable for the economic development of Bangladesh. The direct contributions of remittances to the national income have grown rapidly in the recent years. Remittance has already changed many people’s livelihoods and boosted our economic growth and is the second largest financial inflow to our country. Indeed, money sent by immigrants increase the income of their families but overall, they help the country to grow. Defying all expectations, Bangladeshis working abroad have increased the volume of money they send home during the Covid-19 crisis.
However, the fact remains that the majority of Bangladeshi migrant workers are semi-skilled and unskilled. They are mainly involved in low-end jobs. Bangladesh ranks sixth among migrant origin countries, but is ninth among the top 10 remittance receiving nations, meaning that in spite of sending more workers abroad, Bangladesh earns less in remittance. The per capita remittance of Bangladeshi migrant workers is lower compared to the migrant workers of other countries like the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India and Nepal.
If the workers are provided training according to the demand of the recruiting countries and then sent abroad, the flow of remittance will obviously increase. To create newer avenues of overseas employment, migrant workers need diverse skill sets. Quality technical and vocational training can play significant roles in creating a highly skilled manpower. Collaboration of vocational training institutes with overseas employment promoters can help impart market-based training.
In the developed countries the demand for skilled migrant workers is likely to grow even further. In the highly competitive international market, industrially advanced countries will continue to import skilled and educated professionals to reduce costs and enhance productivity. Labour-importing countries save money on the high cost of skills training and education of professionals. Mobility of capital and the growth points it creates serve as a magnet for attracting foreign manpower. To take advantage of this situation Bangladesh needs to develop skilled human resources. Lack of language and communication skills is also hindering our professionals from flourishing in the overseas job market. When someone decides to go and work in a certain country, they should have the opportunity of learning the language of that country along with English.
There is a great need for acquiring skills to keep up with the demands of the changing world. Upskilling our migrant workers and equipping them with the knowhow to deal with a rapidly changing work environment will go a long way toward making them ready for the overseas workplace.
There are 71 technical training centres (TTCs) operating under the BMET (Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training), however, thousands of workers are going abroad without any training.
In Bangladesh there is lack of awareness about the importance of acquiring new skills; poor utilisation of existing training capacity, skills mismatch with the market demand, lack of upgrading the existing training centres and meagre attempt to creating and updating the training manuals developing and incorporating new materials. Bangladesh has to make a concentrated effort to increase the number of trained migrant workers in order to make the flow of remittance more sustainable.
About one third of the nation’s population is between 18-34 years of age. To take advantage of demographic dividends, we need to provide them quality education and skills training. Keeping in mind the technological advancements, Bangladesh has to undertake new development strategies and put adequate resources to train and equip their workforce. The agencies concerned should formulate a skill development strategy for the country’s workforce.
