Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF), in collaboration with the ProGRESS Project of the ILO Country Office for Bangladesh, organized a day-long workshop yesterday on “Strengthening the Ap-prenticeship System in Bangladesh” at its Gulshan office.
The objectives of the workshop were to discuss the ILO’s recommendations for apprenticeship programs and promote such programs in Bangladesh.
ANM Tanjel Ahsan, National Program Officer, ProGRESS project of ILO and Joha Jamilur Rahman, Senior Training Coordinator, BEF, moderated the workshop. A total of 45 participants attended the workshop, said a press release.
Topics that came up for discussion during the workshop include the overall strengthening of the appren-ticeship program in Bangladesh, a move toward private-sector led apprenticeship programs instead of the existing donor-based ones, and the need to clarify the differences between apprenticeships and intern-ships.
Representatives from the ILO, BEF, and various sectors took part in the discussion.
The participants pointed out that a few apprenticeship programs were regularly being held by companies. A common forum for existing institutions (BTEB, BMET, NSDA, etc.) to prioritize the quality appren-ticeship with a yearly follow-up and strategic alignment may encourage other companies to take initia-tives for new apprenticeship programs.
They also proposed a dual financing model for the Quality Apprenticeships where the government will be responsible for seventy percent of the investment while the industry the remaining thirty.
The program ended with the closing remarks by Farooq Ahmed, Secretary-General and CEO of BEF.
