South Asia

Skilling up Bangladeshi women

Learning new skills for better jobs in Bangladesh: Meet Kamrul Nahar Omi

The Bangladesh garments industry is poised to grow into a $50 billion industry by 2021 and for this, two million semi-skilled workers are needed.

Non-garment industries such as leather, furniture, hospitality and Information & Technology (IT) are also poised to grow.

But how can we think equal, build smart, innovate for change, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day?

Female participation in the workforce has been increasing but remains less than half of male participation rates across primary working ages.

Of those females joining work, over 80 percent are engaged in low-skilled, low-productivity jobs in the informal sector with little opportunity for career progression.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is one important medium to equip women with employable skills and improve their job market participation.

Overcoming the perception of TVET as ‘male-dominated’ training, women’s participation in technical programs has been steadily rising over the past decade.

Yet, Bangladesh still has a long way to go with female share in enrollments around 25 percent in TVET programs.

In fact, a World Bank study identifies some keys areas of intervention for improving female participation in technical diploma programs:

creating a gender-friendly environment in polytechnics and workplaces;
developing more service-orientated diploma programs;
developing a TVET awareness campaign for females;
(supporting a career counseling and guidance system for females;
improving access to higher education;
providing demand-stimulating incentives; (vii) generating research and knowledge;
leveraging partnerships to promote opportunities for females and
generating more and better data to track progress and inform policy and operations for female-friendly TVET.

Are students really learning? This is the primary question In Bangladesh, where more than one third of grade 3 students could not be classified as “readers” because they did not score high enough to be tested. In case of mathematics, the share of students who do not meet minimum proficiency is at 60 percent. These assessments confirm the key message of World Development Report 2018 .

Why are learning levels low? WDR 2018 identifies that the global learning crisis is a result of gaps in one or more of four key school level ingredients for learning - prepared learners, effective teaching, learning focused inputs, and the skilled management and governance that pulls them all together. The report notes that when countries and their leaders make learning for all a national priority, education standards can improve significantly. Relying on evidence gathered around the world, the report offers three policy recommendations: First, Assess learning - so it can become a measurable goal. Second, Act on evidence - to make schools work for all children. Finally, Align actors - to mobilize everyone who has a stake in learning.

Schooling is not the same as learning. Bangladesh has already made a tremendous start by getting most of the children and youth into school. Unfortunately, schooling is not same as learning. Thousands of children attend school but gain very little in terms of actual skills. Moreover, learning outcomes are almost always significantly worse for the disadvantaged. As a result, millions of youths are facing the prospect of lost opportunity and lower wages in later life because schools are failing to ensure learning outcomes.

A team of young female innovators receiving a prize from the Ministry of Education at the national skills competition.

Skills education in Bangladesh has suffered from a social stigma, which is gradually changing. Parents were unwilling to send their children to pursue technical education because they didn’t realize its value. Students themselves rarely aspired to be educated in the technical stream because they wrongly perceived it as a place for low-achievers. This presented a major problem for the government of Bangladesh in achieving the target of a skilled workforce. To face the challenges of the next generation job market and benefit from the demographic dividend, this mindset needed to change.

To address the situation, the Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) of the government of Bangladesh supported by the Government of Canada and the World Bank took an innovative measure. The project initiated a Skills Competition in 2014. The competition planned to hold three levels of competition to encourage all students and ensure maximum participation. The first stage of the competition was held at the institutional level, and the winners went on to compete at the regional level. The winners of the regional level then competed in the national level competition to take home the prize of the Best Skilled.

The Maldives is no stranger to the risks from climate change. It is already witnessing an increase in intense rainfall and resultant flooding, cyclonic winds and storm surges.

For low-lying island states, the impacts of global warming and climate change can be a matter of survival.

The irony is that while these states have not contributed much to greenhouse emissions, as they produce very little, they may face some of the worst consequences.

Maldives is no stranger to the risks from climate change. It is already witnessing an increase in intense rainfall and resultant flooding, cyclonic winds and storm surges.

As one of the lowest-lying countries in the world, with all its people living a few meters above sea level and over two-thirds of its critical infrastructure lying within 100 meters of the shoreline, a sea level rise of just a few meters will put the nation further at risk, endangering its relative prosperity.

Thankfully Maldives is beginning to turn the tide.

Yesterday I visited Fuvahmulah, in one of the southernmost atolls where the Mayor and the Ministry of Environment, have been working closely with local communities to manage the wetlands, critical for reducing climate change impacts.

I saw scores of young Maldivians enjoying the facilities and learning about conservation. A true win-win. Community participation has helped enhance the design and acceptability of this initiative.

Scaled up, such initiatives can have a transformational impact and it is imperative that the Government of Maldives take the lessons from this Bank supported initiative to 19 other atolls.

Creating a safer archipelago

The Indian Ocean tsunami that battered the islands in 2004 provided a glimpse of what can happen – a clear wake-up call.

The government responded by increasing its emphasis on building resilience in infrastructure and providing its people with early warnings in the event of an underwater earthquake.

Today, in the Greater Malé region, the reclaimed island of Hulhumalé is being developed with better sea defenses and elevated buildings from where people can be evacuated as needed.

The government is also raising people’s understanding of the causes and effects of natural disasters, particularly those that come on suddenly, such as tsunamis and flooding.

Toward a Liveable Dhaka

The Dhaka Metropolitan Area is the economic and political center of Bangladesh and has been the country’s engine of economic growth and job creation. Dhaka’s role as a commercial hub has led to rapid population growth, with the population increasing 10 times in 40 years to about 18 million in 2015. This has contributed to Bangladesh having one of the fastest rates of urbanization in South Asia.

Today, more than one-third of Bangladesh’s urban population lives in Dhaka, one of the world’s most densely populated cities with 440 persons per hectare – denser than Mumbai (310), Hong Kong, and Karachi (both 270).

Dhaka is also one of the least livable cities in the world. It is ranked 137 on livability out of 140 cities, the lowest for any South Asian city surveyed. The low livability in Dhaka disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, such as the poor, women, and the elderly.

This blog is part of the series #OneSouthAsia exploring how South Asia can become a more integrated, thus more economically dynamic region. The blog series is a lead up to the South Asia Economic Conclave, an event dedicated to deepen existing economic links through policy and investments in regional businesses.

Which South Asia do you live in? The one which offers world-class metros and malls, super-specialty hospitals, gourmet eateries and designer homes where servants make your meals, drive your car or clean your mess?

Or do you live in the South Asia where sanitation, water and electricity are a luxury, where filth, ignorance and violence means death comes early and more frequently from illness, poverty and natural disasters? Statistically, the latter is more likely.

Having lived in Southeast Asia, where the emergence of the Tigers has transformed the lives of millions of poor through investment in human development, infrastructure and exports producing high growth rates, the visible poverty and chaotic streets of South Asia are troubling. So, too, is the contrast provided by India's dollar billionaires -- the third-largest rich man's club in the world.

Nepali man constructs bamboo house

About 9,000 lives have been lost to the devastating earthquake in Nepal on April 25 and the powerful aftershock on May 12. A conference in Kathmandu on June 25 will bring Nepal together with its international partners to build the country back better and safer.

Unfortunately, this is not just a Nepal challenge. From Afghanistan to Bangladesh, much of South Asia is located in one of the highest seismically active regions in the world. More than 600 million people live along the fault-line across the Himalayan belt that runs through Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Ahamad Tanvirul Alam Chowdhury's picture

Dolly owns and runs “Lovely Fashion,” a tailoring shop in Tongi near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. She is in her mid-twenties and earns around BDT 12,000 (USD 150) a month. “I work hard. I can support my family to live with dignity in the society,” says Dolly. “Finally I have peace of mind and financial independence.”

***Dolly working in her tailoring shop***

We've rounded up 25 Tweets, posts, links, and +1's on South Asia-related development news, innovation, and social good that caught our eye this week. Countries included: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

South Asia

Skilling up Bangladeshi women

Is education delivering on its promise for Bangladesh?

Skills competition inspires youth in Bangladesh

Bracing for climate change is a matter of survival for the Maldives

Toward a livable Dhaka

Which South Asia do you live in?

South Asia should prepare now for the next disaster

Skilled Women Are Breaking Labor Force Barriers in Bangladesh

The Week in #SouthAsiaDev

South Asia

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