Industry and Institution Linkage

Presented By: A.K.M Bari Chairman ISC Tourism & Hospitality Sector

Skills mismatch between supply and demand

Government initiative Government’s Initiative for Industry Institution Linkage: National Skills Development Policy – 2011 clearly says, “ It is important that TVET & skills Training Institutions are aware of the Skill needs in the Industry and understand the latest employment and technology trends Without this Knowledge, the Skills produced by Institutions will not meet the Industry Needs.”

NSDP Recommendation Matching Qualification with Occupation Matching between Industry and Institution is essential to know the skills needed in the Industry Unfortunately our Training Providers do not have any liaison or contact with Industry that can make him aware of the Industry needs Students trained under such situation are never accepted in the Industry Even though some of them are accepted, they never meet the demand of the industry.

Industry Skills Council Tourism and Hospitality sector ISC established and registered under Joint Stock Company Act in 2012 as part of TVET Reform initiative by ILO ISC Organized strategic planning workshop and priority occupations identified for CBT&A piloting Competency Standards developed with BTEB Instructors and Industry Assessors trained for piloting CBTA course Competency Based Learning Materials being developed for priority occupations Piloting of apprenticeship training for 300 new workers for three priority occupations (Cook, Hose keeping, front desk, Food and Beverage service) Working with other development partners to develop skilled workers

ISC initiative to overcome challenges NSDP- 2011 again says that there is also a growing need for improved social dialogue and strengthened partnership on skills development in Bangladesh. As part of this directives Industry Skills Council for Tourism & Hospitality held a day long Strategic Scenario Workshop in March 2013 at Hotel Sheraton.

Continue……. The workshop was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister for Civil Aviation &Tourism. The Secretary of the same ministry and CEO BTB, Officials of BTEB and experts from ILO Dhaka office were present. The experts and leaders from Aviation sector, Hospitality sector, Tourism sector, experts from Institutes and academics took part in open discussion. It was so vibrant and pro active that workshop which was scheduled to continue from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm continued till 9.00pm. It was a dialogue among three parties, the government, Industry and the Training providers. It was a glaring example and practice of Industry – Institution Linkage.

Continue……. 12 Priority Occupation Identified: The workshop comprising Industry, Institutions And Government so to say BTEB identified 12 priority occupations . I must mention the name of ILO with gratitude because it has planed, financed and provided all technical assistance in the Workshop. As per recommendation of the workshop steps are being taken

Continue……. Competency Based Standard developed in six Occupations namely ; i) Food and Beverage Production, ii) Food and Beverage Service, iii) House keeping, iv ) Tour Guide, v) front Office and vi ) Ticketing & Reservation. In the process of development of CBS the Industry experts played the leading role by giving their inputs to meet skills demand in the Industry.

Continue……. There were experts from the Institutions too.ILO international experts helped develop the Standards where BTEB experts gave all logistic support. Thus the CBS has been developed to meet the need of the Industry. This CBS was later on validated by largely attended Industry owners and experts. They applauded the Standards and assured if Training can be given according to this document the boys and girls will be accepted in the Industry. These documents will remain as the property of BTEB. Anybody can use it.

Piloting demand driven Courses Piloting of the Standards ( CBS ): So far four occupations have been piloted where in 600 boys and girls received training. They all were attached in the Industry and almost all of them have been absorbed in the Industry. Needless to mention that the youths being trained by the Institutes are assessed by Industry Assessors. Both the Trainers and assessors are trained under TVET and CBT jointly by ILO and BTEB. ILO’s role in Bangladesh Skills development process needs to be appreciated.

ISC initiatives with development partners Role of ‘a2i’ PMO : The a2i project of Prime Minister’s Office and ISC Tourism & Hospitality jointly organized a consultative meeting in the Prime Minister’s office at Korobi Hall. It was attended by a good number of Hoteliers who are prospective employers , the Training providers and ISC Leaders. This is a good initiative of Industry and institutes linkage from the office of the Head of the Government of the country. The country is passing through a revolutionary change in the Skills development.

Continue……. The Linkage between Industry and Institutions will resulted in need based, demand driven and Market oriented skills training prompting job placement leading to higher productivity and greater GDP. The workers will get better salary leading to poverty reduction and national development. Higher salary and higher productivity will bring peace and harmony in the Industry. The country will reach MDG goal if all the sectors play their due role.

Thank You All