A weekly round up of articles about employment, the labour market, skills training and workforce development. This week’s round up is drawn from The Daily Star. Here is the news for the week ending 30th November, 2017.
This week in the Bangladesh English Press…
…we hear about growth in the agriculture sector, education sector, and high expectations from the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.
Investments, Trade and Growth
Recycling of garment waste can generate four billion dollars annually. Reverse Resources, an Estonia-based software company is developing an online market place for garment waste, says in an online article that more than 25 percent of resources in Bangladesh are discarded in fabric and garment factories.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak stated that information technology and IT-enabled services will bring more export earnings than readymade garments for Bangladesh by 2030. The government targets $1 billion from exporting IT products by 2018 and $5 billion by 2021.
Education and the Labour Market
Organizers of the Third China Education Expo 2017 said that the Chinese Scholarship Council has increased scholarship opportunities for Bangladeshi students for masters and PhD programmes. Moreover, number of CA-qualified women in the chartered accountancy profession in Bangladesh has reached a milestone by crossing 100.
A two-day Agro Career Expo took place in Dhaka to provide agricultural university students an opportunity to meet and interact with potential employers. About 1,500 students from seven agriculture universities attended the show. Private companies collected resumes, took interviews and recruited graduates.
The teachers appointed under the Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project demanded regularization of their jobs during a protest in front of the Jatiya Press Club.
ILO employment specialist says that tech advances may affect jobs in apparel. So, production should focus on both export and domestic markets.
Farmers and Agriculture
Bad weather made potato sellers in Boithakata bazar under Nazirpur upazila of Pirojpur distressed due to lack of buyers as sale of seeds has decreased. Excessive rain causes early cultivation of vegetables in Nazirpur upazila of the district to be delayed by over one month. Farmers in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar have become unemployed as they are unable to cultivate Boro crops due to the floodwater that still covers Hakaluki Haor.
On a positive note, a farmer in Sukhnagari village in Madarganj upazila of Jamalpur uses underground gas to power water pumps. A three-day food processing and agro exposition, “BAPA Foodpro International Expo-2017” ended with a huge turnout of visitors and broad enthusiasm among participants. A farmer became an innovative change maker by planting medicinal plants in his garden at Moheshwarchanda village in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenidah.
Lalmonirhat farmers gain from healthy market rates for spinach in this winter. The prices of the spinach varieties are double the prices of last year.
Other News
A 16-day event was launched at the capital’s Rabindra Sarobar on Friday, marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
And that’s the news for the week ending 30th November, 2017.