The New Nation - Internet Edition

PARTICIPANTS at a recent international symposium underscored the need for imparting skills training to workers before sending them abroad for jobs. This is because the unskilled workers are the main victims of unfair wages and legal harassment. One important condition for securing foreign jobs with better wages is that a migrant worker should have a working knowledge of the language of the country where he is going to work. This is very much important for good communication between the employee and the employer. A worker must also be technically skilled.

According to sources, about 50 lakh Bangladeshis are working in different countries of the world now. Every year a large number of Bangladeshis migrate to foreign countries seeking jobs. About 381,000 job seekers departed the country in 2006. This number shows a robust growth compared to 188,000 in 2001. Expatriate workers are the highest foreign exchange earners for the country. These workers sent US$7.9 billion in fiscal year 2007-08, which is about US$2 billion more than that of 2006-07. The RMG sector has now been relegated to the second position as foreign exchange earner. These figures make a strong case for the government to make its workers skilled.

So the authorities concerned must make all possible arrangements to give language and vocational training to the people looking for jobs abroad. The concerned agencies of the government, in collaboration with private educational institutions, can open foreign language courses to train them on minimum spoken language skills. Bangladeshi missions aboard should regularly monitor the job markets in different countries so that vocational and technical institutions can design their courses accordingly. Such skills would help retain and expand Bangladesh's share in the international job market.