Bangladesh prioritizes skilled drivers for domestic and overseas employment.
Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury has emphasized the need to develop skilled drivers to expand employment opportunities at home and abroad, saying successful training centres will be rewarded and the progress of training activities will be reviewed after three months.
He made the remarks today while addressing a ceremony to hand over vehicles to principals of Technical Training Centres (TTCs) in different districts under the project titled "Providing Driving Training for Employment at Home and Abroad (1st Revised)."
The minister said overcoming allegations that Bangladesh sends unskilled workers abroad is a major challenge. Workers must be equipped with skills that meet the demands of the contemporary world. As many countries follow left-hand driving, drivers from Bangladesh often face difficulties. Therefore, driving training in the country must include left-hand driving, navigation, road maps, traffic signals and modern traffic management systems, he added.
Emphasizing the need to ensure training quality, Ariful said trainees must receive adequate practical training. They should be allowed to drive on roads only after gaining full control of a vehicle. Before that, training should be conducted on a field or in a suitable open space, he added.
He said trainees should undergo eye examinations before starting their training. Those with eyesight problems could be enrolled in other suitable training programmes, as vision-related difficulties could create complications in obtaining driving licences abroad, he added.
The minister said women, alongside men, should also be included in driving training programmes. In many foreign cities, people need to drive their own vehicles for daily activities.
Calling for training in basic vehicle mechanics, he said trainees should have a basic understanding of how to identify and address vehicle problems when they arise unexpectedly. This would enable them to handle minor problems on their own, he added.
Regarding the monitoring of training activities, the minister said progress reports would be collected from the principals concerned after three months. They would have to report how many trainees had received left-hand driving training. If necessary, he would visit any training centre in person. The ministry would reward principals of centres that succeeded in producing a larger number of skilled trainees, he said.
Secretary of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Md Mokhtar Ahmed presided over the ceremony.
Director General of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Jamil Ahmed, officials of Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF), senior ministry officials, and principals of 64 TTCs from eight divisions were present at the event.
