TruStory
In the last decades unemployment among Bangladeshi youth has become a significant issue, as currently the proportion of joblessness stands around 15.5%. Despite a large and growing young population, many young people face challenges in securing meaningful employment. Major reasons for this are: mismatching skills, limited job opportunities, educational system issues and an urban-rural divide.
The Building Youth Employability through Skills (BYETS) program, funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), led by Swisscontact, is a four-year-long initiative commenced in 2022. Swisscontact entered a partnership with Truvalu to design and implement impactful interventions specifically in the ICT sector.
The program aims to empower 25,000 Bangladeshi youth, including 50% women, with improved technical, employability, and entrepreneurial skills. It seeks to connect them to income-generating opportunities, namely, jobs and self-employment in three sectors: Ready Made Garments (RMG), Agro-Processing (AP), and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). BYETS operates across Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, and Rajshahi divisions of Bangladesh.
The initiative plans to achieve these objectives through 2 different interventions. Firstly it will provide classroom-based training which will cover agro-processing and Information & Communication Technology (ICT). Secondly, it provides workplace-based training, enabling them to enhance their employability and focusing on Agro-processing and Ready Made Garments
Intervention 1: Market driven training through TSP
Building the capacity of Training Service Providers (TSPs) to design and implement quality training and job placement support services. BYETS will support the Training Service Providers to provide demanding courses, resulting in youth access to training programs, better job placement, increased income & improved capacity of TSP’s for providing future training
Intervention 2: Workplace-based training
Collaborating with private sector employers in improving existing workplace-based training. The project will support factories and employers for workplace-based training, resulting in: Youth access to workplace-based training, access to coaching and mentoring support, developing master trainers, and promoting a decent and inclusive workplace for youth
The BYETS initiative stands out due to its comprehensive, inclusive approach to skills development. Beyond simply providing training, it builds lasting relationships between government bodies, private sector employers, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), creating an enduring framework for sustainable skills-building. This public-private collaboration addresses both the immediate and long-term needs of Bangladesh’s evolving job market, promoting decent work and fair labor practices.
