RMG Informal Sector

Bangladesh
Skills Development
Project
By Md. Manzurul Alam

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Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not
guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their
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necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.

Construction Light Engineering

Project Objectives:
To Reduce Poverty and Promote Economic
Growth by Increasing Wage and Self-Employment
of Graduates of Skills Training Programs.

Project Period: July 2008-June 2013

Executing Agency: Ministry of Education (MOE)

Bangladesh

Implementing Agencies: Directorate of Technical

Education (DTE)-MOE
Special focus on groups
that are disadvantaged
(unemployed and under-
employed youth, adult
women) in remote and
poverty stricken areas.
 Components of the Project

2. Improved Capacity for Good Quality

TVET Delivery;
3. Increased Delivery of Relevant
Skills Training
 How Target Groups will benefit
Self-employment
Unemployed/Underemployed

Wage-Employment

Receive Employable Skills Training

Capacity Building on Development of

How Training Market Responsive CBT Curriculum
Institutes
will benefit Capacity Building of TVET Institute

Development of Master Trainer

 Objectives of Gender Action Plan
(GAP)
 Identify potential sectors for women’s
employment and promote relevant skills
training;
 Create gender sensitivity amongst all
stakeholders and develop their capacity
to address gender issues in TVET;
 Integrate gender issues in curriculum
development and delivery of TVET;
 Ensure a gender- sensitive management
and monitoring system.
Project Component Gender Action Plan (GAP) Activity GAP Achievement
1. Enhanced Relevance  Develop partnership with different  20% women
of Technical and stakeholders of Industrial Sectors participation included in
Vocational Education TOR of SWCs
and Training (TVET)  Ensure women’s participation in Partnership document
Programs to the Labor Sectoral Working Committees  6 out of 50 members
Markets (SWCs) where available (12%) are women.
 Identify suitable/potential occupation  40 Priority Occupations,
for women in industries and informal from 4 sectors, identified
sectors by the SWC members
 Five consultative
 Motivate employers to employ
women in priority occupations, where meeting conducted
appropriate
Process Started
 Development of industry-accepted
(Competency Standard)
Competency-Based Training (CBT)
program that facilitates employment
of women Process Started
(Curriculum dev)
 Develop modular courses that ensure
participation of women with prospect
of employment
 Recently started
 Undertake promotional activities to (Induction workshop)
attract women in Secondary School
Certificate (Vocational) [SSC (Voc)] to
undergo such training
 Project Component GAP Activity
2. Improved Capacity  Ensure use of Sex- disaggregated
for and Quality of data for monitoring and evaluation
TVET Delivery plan
 Deliver CBT in service training and
pedagogy to all teachers and
technological training to women
teachers
 Ensure women’s participation as
trainers and trainees (30%)
 Master trainers and teacher trainers
are oriented on gender issues
GAP Achievement
 Developed Plan with sex-
disaggregated data.
 8 CBT training courses
organized . Out of 200
participants 20 were
women.
 Teachers trainers( not
master trainer) are
oriented and sensitized on
gender concepts
 Eight regional division
office establishment
processes on going

 Gender-friendly infrastructure, e.g.,  Gender-friendly

hostel for both women and men infrastructure plan
trainees and teachers, separate toilets developed for TTTC and
for women and men, are ensured in VTTI
Technical Teachers’ Training College
(TTTC) and Vocational Teachers
Training Institute (VTTI)
 Project Component GAP Activity GAP Achievement
3. Increased Access  Market-Responsive Training Fund  Gender perspective
to Good Quality and (MRTF) evaluation committee selection criteria
Relevant Skill ensure use of gender as a criteria included for MRTF and
Training and promote women’s PDF
participation
 Training needs assessment  Collection of sex-
consider gender issues and disaggregated data on
training delivered to both women TVET participants to be
and men ensuring women to be started (Research Wing
30% of the trainees at DTE)
 Identify and select vocational  NGO selection process
trades with high potential for started to identify poor
wage-employment or self- and indigenous trainees
employment for women
 Select schools located in areas
accessible to both girls and boys
and the poor
 Select women heads of
households and indigenous
women for training
 Provide entrepreneurship training
to women entrepreneurs
SWCs identified 40 different priority occupations from 4
industrial sectors (RMG, Light Engineering, Construction
and Informal Sector) for potential employment and
relevant skills training. 24 were specified for women:

 Readymade Garments (RMG):

Knitting – operations of various machines;
Garments -- pattern making & cutting; sewing machine
operations;
Textiles- lap former & comber operation; treatment
dyeing, & finishing operation.
 Light Engineering: CNC machine operation; operation
& maintenance of plastic machines.

 Construction: Carpentry; plumbing; tiles, mosaic and

marble works; painting.

 Informal Sector: Mushroom cultivation; dairy & cattle

farming; installation & maintenance of solar panels; hand
loom operation; health care; dress making; poultry
farming; block batik works; and jori chumki works.
 Encouraging guardians (parents/husbands) to get rid of taboos
regarding women’s participation in TVET and related jobs through
organization of awareness raising campaigns
 Establishment of gender focal points in SWCs of industrial sectors
(readymade garment {RMG}, light engineering, construction and
informal sector) at the management level
 Sensitization of stakeholders to popularize the TVET system and
women’s participation through Social Marketing emphasizing women’s
economic empowerment.
 Link with the employers of industrial sectors through organization of
gender sensitization workshops and consultation meetings.
 Introduction of industry-accepted Competency Based Training (CBT),
which is a combination of Knowledge, Skill and Attitude Development,
and is not generally practiced in the education system in Bangladesh.
 Introduction of Market Responsive Training Fund (MRTF) under DTE
 Availability of women with appropriate marketable
skills for employment
 Attitude of guardians and institutions towards
enrollment of girl students in TVET system;
 Integration of gender concepts in Competency Based
Training (CBT) curriculum;
 Motivating employers to employ women TVET
graduates;
 Motivation of families to send girls for TVET program;

 Inclusion of women/girls into jobs like RMG, light

engineering, construction, and informal sector
instead of the usual micro credit based income
generating activities at the household level
 Effective implementation of planned activities as per
GAP;
 Continue encouragement of guardians to get rid of
taboos related to women’s participation in TVET
through awareness campaign;
 Encourage and ensure women/girls participation in
suitable industrial sector jobs through social
marketing;
 Introduce a gender policy guideline to create
gender-friendly environment in project;
 Identify and introduce new marketable vocational
skills training for women.
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