Managing Labour Migration: The Case of The Construction Sector

Md. Hazrat Ali, Additional Secretary Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment

Government of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh

30 January 2015 The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

Contribution of Migrant Workers

At destination:

Fulfill the gap of labour shortages Contribute in the economic activities Skill and knowledge transfer Aggregate demand increases

At individual level:

Remittances smooth consumption Improve living standard Alleviate poverty at household levels

At origin: Reduce unemployment Gather skill and knowledge Earn international remittances Improve foreign exchange reserves

Skilled

35%

Other

3%

Semi-skilled

16%

Less-skilled

46%

Almost 51% of workers have employed under skilled and semi-skilled job category and 46% of workers went to abroad in less skilled job category. The Government of Bangladesh has taken several initiatives to improve the skill levels of young workers.

Skill Composition of Bangladeshi Migrant Workers in 2014

Bangladeshi Migrant Workers: Construction and Construction Related Sectors

Since 2011, a total number of 1,57,673 Bangladeshi migrant workers went to different countries under construction and construction related jobs.

The share of construction and construction related jobs to total number of migrant workers is 8.5%.

Since 2011, Bangladeshi migrant workers went to abroad under 67 occupations of construction and construction related jobs.

Among all construction and construction related jobs, a share of almost 93% are Mason, Carpenter, Tiles Fixture, Electrician, Welder/Fabricator and Wood Designer.

Mason (54%) remains the highest share of construction and construction related jobs.

Bangladeshi construction workers at different destination countries

Construction workers put finishing touches on a pavement outside Marina Bay Sands casino and resort in Singapore.

Bangladeshi migrant workers line up to enter a construction site in Kuala Lumpur in 2011.

5th ADBI-OECD-ILO Roundtable on Labour Migration in Asia: Building Effective Structures and Institutes for Migration Governance

Initiatives by the MoEWOE for Managing Labour Migration:

The Government of Bangladesh is very much committed to prevent any mal practices and unpleasant situations related to recruitment process. Thus, it has enacted the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013, which ensures proper, effective and strong monitoring of recruitment process.

An ‘online registration system’ has been introduced and a comprehensive data of 2.2 million potential workers under 48 different categories of skills has developed. The Government has made recruitments mandatory through this database through its new enacted Act.

To promote overseas employment to genuine and committed workers, Bangladesh recently has put in place a 3-tier procedure to check the antecedents of the aspirant overseas workers.

The Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment provides ‘one week’ country specific ‘pre-departure orientation’ session on host countries laws and regulations, services, conditions, working environment, food habits, climate, culture, salary and other benefits, local language and social and religious practices.

The core institutional and administrative framework for

labour migration is provided by the Ministry of Expatriates’

Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

BMET has been mandated to execute and implement a large number of functions related to international labour migration including implementation of application of LAW related to labour migration.

Labour Wings of Bangladeshi Missions abroad are playing an important role of exercising migration supported diplomacy to ensure worker’s rights and securities.

Institutional arrangement of Labour Migration Management in Bangladesh

Ministry of Home Affairs

Ministry of Civil Aviation

Recruitment Agencies

During Registration

Before Issuing the Passport

Before Leaving for the Destination

Country

Every Outbound Worker from Bangladesh has to Undergo Three Tiers of Antecedent Verification

Local Elected Public Representative’s No

Objection / Character Certificate

Police Verification Report

Smart Card with Biometric Impression

Page 8 of 15

High Quality Preprint

Secure 32KB Microprocessor card

with encryption

Multi-purpose Smart Card as the Emigration Clearance.

Employee Information

Photo

Barcode

Pre-departure information material available for workers

Audio visual materials Takeaway general pre-

departure booklets Takeaway country specific

booklets (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Libya, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea)

Documentaries (migration process, remittance management, health and HIV/AIDS, women’s migration, etc.)

Illustrative flipcharts

Government’s investments for skill development

The Government of Bangladesh has given priority for infrastructural development related to technical and skill training. Accordingly, the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment has invested around USD 42 Million for establishing new Skill Training Centers throughout the country.

The Government of Bangladesh has given emphasis not only on quantity of skill training providers but also given importance to improve quality of skill training program. As a result the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment has invested USD 2 Million for improving the quality of skill training program.

Chuadanga Brammanbaria Gopalganj

Trade/Subject Duration of Courses

Number of Entries

Annual target

1. Civil Construction 6 months 300 600

2. Carpentry/Wood Work 3 months 400 1200

3. Shattering( Steel & Wood) 2 months 236 1416

4. Mason 2 months 216 1296

5. Rod Binder 1.5 months 236 354

6. Tiles Fixture 2 months 236 1416

7. Plumbing and Pipe Fitting 3 months 205 820

8. General Electrical Works 6 months 1051 2102

9. Welding 3 months 740 2960

Current Skill Training Programs given by BMET on Construction and Construction Related Jobs

A total number of 12,168 trainees are taking skill training program by BMET on Construction and Construction Related Jobs.

Training on different construction related trades given by MoEWOE

Training on different construction related trades given by MoEWOE

Upcoming developments in Skill Training Programs in Bangladesh

To improve the existing skills of migrant workers according to the demand of recruiters and employers. There will be 27 new Technical Training Centers (TTCs) and new 5 Institutes of Marine Technology (IMTs) added by the end of 2015 with a target to provide skill training to 0.15 million people.

Government of Bangladesh has taken initiatives to establish another 440 TTCs at Upazilla level to provide skill trainings to at least 500 thousand people annually. Some of the TTCs may be earmarked for specific country to cater their need especially based on their requirements.

Skills Development for Overseas Employment

To improve skills development for overseas employment the new skills development system under National Skill Development Policy (2011) will:

Assess and respond to the demand for different categories of skilled workers in major overseas markets; Develop a coordinated and flexible recruitment and training strategy to service that demand; Develop a national qualification system against which skill certification of an international standard can be made and communicated to overseas employers and international recruitment agencies; Improve the capacity of training providers to deliver skills to the standard required by overseas employers; Improve the regulation and quality assurance of training providers delivering pre-embarkation training; Improve the employment outcomes of those who undertake skills training for overseas employment; and Engage with returning migrants to assess and certify higher skills gained overseas.

All training and trade testing centers targeting overseas workers will be required to be registered with BTEB so that skills assessment and certification in these centres follows the NTVQF and is based on national competency standards, or where possible, competency standards recognised in the countries of employment.

Nationally recognised qualifications will be available to expatriate workers. Over time, all migrating workers will be required to have qualifications from the NTVQF, obtained either through occupation specific courses or through a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process at BTEB registered testing centres. To increase the number of qualified expatriate workers, RPL will be offered in a systematic way.

Salient features of National Skill Development Policy

The Bangladesh Skills Development System has two components; the National Training and Vocational Qualifications Framework (NTVQF) and the National Skills Quality Assessment System. Together, these ensure quality, demand-based skills development in Bangladesh. The NTVQF is a comprehensive, nationally consistent yet flexible framework for all qualifications in technical and vocational education and training.

The competency standards are the foundation on which new competency based curriculum will be developed that responds better to the needs of industry for skilled workers. Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) will receive a qualification in the new National Technical and Vocational Qualification Framework (NTVQF).

Construction related documents:

National Competency Standard for Plumbing National Competency Standard for Civil Construction National Competency Standard for Tile Works National Competency Standard for Tile Masonry National Competency Standard for Tile Welding National Competency Standard for Carpentry

National Technical and Vocational Qualification Framework (NTVQF)

Thanks You All

Ministry of Expatriates'’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh