Skill certificates for expatriates

According to a news report, recently the government has decided to sign a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with different countries and regional bodies so that our expatriates get skills certificates. The certificate will help them to get jobs along with international recognition. It is indeed a laudable move by government as such agreement is now need of the hour. If we wish to see our migrant workers getting appropriate jobs and handsome salary then skill based certificate is indeed essential. Over the years our workers have been deprived from deserved salary as they lacked skill based knowledge and authorized certification. However, only skill based knowledge is not enough unless we provide them with acceptable certification. One of the high officials of Bureau of Manpower has mentioned that providing training will not be enough if the worker's certificate is not accepted in the global market. And unauthorized certificates will tarnish the global reputation of our migrant workers.

According to Bangladesh Employers' Federation (BEF), Bangladesh migrant workers in the Middle East earn a third of their Sri Lankan and half to their Indian counterparts' wages. The primary reasons for this poor salary are the inefficiency of our workers and a valid certification.  This immense gap can be bridged only if we can issue proper certification to the expatriates. This recent initiative will help our workers, especially women migrants, to get better paying and respectful jobs in existing and also other unexplored foreign job markets.

However, the government has to be alert about issuing of fake certificates which is a common malpractice in almost all sectors in Bangladesh.  The authorities concerned have to guarantee that no migrant worker will be deceived while securing a professional certificate. Also, necessary checks have to be made so that vested quarters cannot avail a monopoly over the certificate issuing process by using their links with influential figures. The whole affair has to be transparent and systematic in order to be effective and to genuinely benefit our migrant workers.
We all are well aware of the perilous state of our female migrant workers. Most of them are facing a barbaric reality in the KSA and other Middle-Eastern countries. As many of them don't have proper skill based knowledge, they become victims of poor pay or no pay for years. To lessen these unacceptable consequences we need to build a force of skilled migrant workers with globally acceptable certificate and impartial recruitment. We are optimistic that this agreement will ensure robust inclusion of Bangladeshi workers in the global market.