SKILL RECOGNITION & CERTIFICATION FOR MIGRANT WORKERS: MODELS AND PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTATION Jabed Ahmed Additional Secretary And K M Ali Reza Deputy Chief Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment International Conference on Skills for the Future World of Work and TVET for Global Competitiveness July 2017

Content Introduction Skill Issues and the Role of RCP Models for skill training and certification systems Areas of Cooperation between COD and COO Role of Destinations Countries Role of Countries of Origin Conclusion

Introduction Overseas employment is Alleviating pressure of unemployment Contributing to poverty reduction Strengthening economy through remittance Focus on Skill Migration Skill migrant workers are less vulnerable to exploitation They pay less for migration cost Better bargaining power in ensuring their rights such as salary better potential to upward mobility with better salary and position Contribute to safe and regular migration in line with SDG target 10.7

Skill Issues and Role of RCP Colombo Process (CP) and Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD) Involvement and role of Bangladesh in CP and ADD Skill training, matching between skill and job requirement, recognition of skill are discussed in CP and ADD Skill gap, skill recognition and certification which are deemed to be mutually benefiting for the COOs and CODs Coordinated skills training and certification improve the efficiency of job matching and protect workers to get jobs they deserve

Models for skill training and certification systems Proposed Three Models 1) Skills training and certification can be done completely by private companies. Private employer-recruiter partnerships function best for occupations that have clearly defined skills and similar across countries, such as seafarers and nurses. 2) Industry Associations (IA) in receiving countries may develop job specifications for particular occupations, such as construction or service . IAs in COO and COD can develop curricula that provide required skills to graduates, so that a carpenter certified by a TTC in Bangladesh has a credential recognized in any GCC countries.

Models for skill training and certification systems 3) Government-to-Government agreements to coordinate training and certification. Governments in receiving countries help developing the curricula of training programs in sending countries and encourage their employers to recognize the certificates of graduate. Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) among the sending countries as well as with the destination countries Almost every sending country has its own National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) that aim to develop skill ladders To identify the requirements of some of the most common jobs for which workers is hired Graduates could be entered into a database from which employers select workers

Areas of Cooperation between COD and COO To promote certification of skills in the Asia-GCC labour migration corridors we need to address: Policy approach (a) Steering employers towards higher skills workers and knowledge intensive sectors (b) Introducing incentives for employers to encourage certification of existing workers. (ii) Formulating National occupational skills standards (NOSS) and (iii) Recognized training and testing centers in countries or origin and destination.

Formulating National occupational skills standards (NOSS) While GCC countries have started developing a set of NOSS mainly based on international best practices, the range of NOSS available remains limited till today. Training and testing centers in countries of origin and the GCC can develop qualifications in line with present skill needs GCC countries need to further expand equivalences of academic and vocational degrees with key source countries through MoUs GCC countries may consider providing a unified transparent framework to certificate awarding bodies detailing which standards are common across the GCC countries

Recognized training and testing centers in COO and COD Network of awarding bodies, training facilities and testing centers A network of licensed centers that train and test workers against the NOSS of the GCC countries. Recognition of prior learning (RPL) Difficult for government entities to directly license and monitor large networks of training and testing centers, skill certificate awarding bodies may share those roles Awarding bodies need to be licensed by the concern government authority

Role of Destinations Countries Developing a common licensing policy for awarding bodies recognized awarding bodies will have the authority to issue qualification certificates in countries of origin on behalf of destination countries b. Developing licensing policies for training and testing centers Licensed training and testing centers to deliver qualifications in line with the standards of the GCC countries. c. Developing a fee model Awarding bodies may pay a licensing fee to regulators in countries of destination as well as in origin to issue certificates of recognized qualifications in countries of origin

Role of Countries of Origin Encouraging existing training and testing centers to be recognized by awarding bodies b. Encouraging workers to have their own skills tested by recognized testing centers in the country of origin or in destination c. Countries of origin can develop a national database of skills that will capture the recognized skill levels of the workforce against the national qualification framework d. This database can be linked to the recruitment process of contract workers to allow employers a greater understanding of the level of skills of the workers.

Conclusion skill recognition and certification described above can be done bilaterally or multilaterally between COOs and CODs cooperating among GCC countries to accelerate and harmonize the recognition of skills in the GCC-Asia migration corridors The NTVQF certifications are not recognized by the destination countries Aligning NTVQF of Bangladesh with NOSS in GCC countries can help to overcome the barriers and create a new paradigm of skill migration with recognized skill certifications