Dhaka: A total of 3,180 un-skilled rural workers have been trained to make them capable of doing industrial jobs particularly in the manufacturing sector, according to official source.

Around 93% of the workers, 26% are women, have already secured jobs in different industries of manufacturing sector.

The training has been provided under the Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) of the Education Ministry in partnership with the Bangladesh Garments and Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Since 2010, STEP has been working to strengthen public and private polytechnic institutions to improve the quality of skills training, align curriculum with skills market demand, and increase employability of the trainees from the poor families.

To improve job market opportunities for informal workers, STEP operationalized the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program in 2014, to assess and certify workers’ skill level, who have no prior formal training or qualifications.

The RPL program has assessed over 9,000 candidates and certified 7,533 as competent.

The project provided stipend support to 144,615 poor students, surpassing the project target. The World Bank and Canada is providing financial support to the STEP project.