Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP)

PKSF, over the years, has gained in-depth understanding and valuable experiences on the multidimensional aspects of poverty and has been well aware of the fact that Bangladesh is well placed to benefit from the demographic dividend till 2050. It at the same time believes that the dividend, combined with effective policies and markets, could lead to faster rates of economic growth and human development. However, a major challenge to this end is improving the skills of people in Bangladesh. In this context, PKSF has been implementing the ‘Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP)’ project since 2015 to ensure training and employment for the poor and the marginalized people of the country so that they can improve their living standard sustainably. PKSF provides demand-driven skill development training under the SEIP project with a view to creating productive self and wage employment.

The Finance Division under the Ministry of Finance, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) is working as the Executing Agency of this project. The Division has established a ‘Skill Development Coordination and Monitoring Unit’ (SDCMU) to implement the project, jointly financed by the GoB and the Asian Development Bank.

Goal of the Project

To develop a skilled workforce through skill development training and then place them in productive self and wage employment, thereby improving their long-term livelihoods.

Objectives of the Project

The main objectives of the SEIP project are as follow:

• Impart skills training linked to a gainful wage or self-employment through PKSF partners and selected training institutes;
• Increase targeted poor people’s (both male and female) access to market-responsive skill development training programs; and
• Ensure job placement of trainees after training.

Expected Results

The household income of a trainee increases by 20% after receiving training under this project.

Outcomes

Increased number of skilled workers in priority sectors around the country.

Outputs

• Around 26,270 skilled and semi-skilled workers produced under Tranche-1, Tranche-2 and Tranche-3 by February 2022.
• At least 60% of the total trainees will be employed after training and retained in respective jobs for three months.
• The ratio of wage and self-employment of the employed trainees will be approximately 60:40 of 60% the total trainees.

3 Major Dimensions/Tasks of the Project

SEIP entails three major tasks: selecting appropriate trainees, selecting renowned and efficient training institutes for providing quality training, and job placement of passed-out trainees, which are equally important as well as very challenging for the project’s successful implementation and goal achievement.

• Selection of Appropriate Trainees: PKSF selects the trainees through its Partner Organizations (POs) from their organized group members under an inclusive financing and development program. Trainees’ selection is finalized after conducting screening test and viva voice through the POs and the training institutes employed. Potential Trainees aged 15 or above are selected from the POs of PKSF or a training institute’s catchment area. The project bears all expenditures of trainees except only of the accommodation and food costs to ensure effective participation. Initiatives are taken to encourage the participation of people with disabilities, members of ethnic minority groups and female trainees. Moreover, special focus is given on the selection of trainees for the caregiving training program which PKSF launched in 2022 under Tranche 3 of the project.

• Selection of Qualified Training Institutes: PKSF selects renowned training institutes functioning in Bangladesh to impart market-responsive inclusive quality training among trainees. PKSF ensures delivery of standard curricula for each training/trade course through the selected training institutes. The course structure is comprised of required compulsory and elective components as well as theoretical and practical requirements. The practical and theoretical contents of course curricula are divided into an 80:20 ratio.

• Job Placement of the PKSF-SEIP Graduates: Respective training institutes ensure job placement of the graduates within 3 months of the completion of a training course. The job placement units of the training institutes ensure the following issues: i) preparing database of the relevant industries, ii) developing linkages with the employers, iii) disseminating training outcomes to the employers, iv) organizing job fairs and dialogues with existing/potential employers, v) identifying job vacancies in industry and preparing trainees for interviews, v) preparing documents demonstrating wage/remuneration before and after training to demonstrate the value addition of training in the case of up-skilling, and vii) assisting in the implementation of Trainees Tracking System.

Training Trades under PKS-SEIP Project

The trades/courses, selected from the 9 high-growth priority sectors of Bangladesh and offered under the project, are as follows:

Training Targets and Budget

PKSF aims to produce a total of 38,600 skilled workers in the three Tranches of the Project. The projected training targets and budgets for the project are given below.

Enlisted Training Institutes under PKSF-SEIP Project

Considering the overall institutional capacity (like governance and management; personnel; physical structure and learning resources; support services; development, delivery and review of curriculum; assessment and certification process), 32 reputed training institutes have been selected to provide quality training to the selected trainees in different regions of the country.

Training Institutes (listed alphabetically)