DHAKA, Aug 6, 2018 (BSS) – The country is going to get one lakh skilled
drivers in next five years with implementation of the Skills for Employment
Investment Programme (SEIP) project, which will help reduce the road
accidents significantly.
The government has taken the project mainly to reduce road accidents by
50 percent by 2020 and meet the growing local and international demand of
competent drivers.
“The government has decided to give training to 52,000 drivers under the
project in the next three years from 2018 to 2020,” Syed Nasir Ershad, AEPD
(public-1) of the SEIP, told BSS today.
“A total of one lakh drivers will be given motor-vehicle training under
the SEIP project in the next five years,” he said, adding that Bangladesh
Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) is currently entrusted with giving training
to 22,800 people while Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) to
17,040 others.
Agreements have already been signed with SEIP and BRTC and BMET to this
end.
Under the project, officials said, the drivers will not only be given
motor-vehicle driving training, but also be given automobile mechanical
training and moral education to make them truly efficient, and all of them
will be given driving license upon completion of their training.
They will also be taught two languages, English and Arabic, to make
capable to get overseas jobs.
The people having minimum eight pass certificates, National Identity
Cards (NIDs) and aged between 20 and 35 will be eligible for applying to get
the four-month (360 hours) training. The trainees will be given Taka 100 per
day upon their presence.
“We have already started giving motor-vehicle driving and maintenance
training to 22,800 people from March 3 this year with a target to complete it
by 2020 in line with the agreement signed with the SEIP,” BRTC Chairman and
also Additional Secretary Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan told BSS today.
“Already 1,800 drivers have got training under the project and training
for 2,000 more drivers has started from July 5,” he said.
Farid said: “A total of 36,000 people will be provided with the training
under the SEIP project. In the first phase, 22,800 people will be given the
training from 2018 to 2020 and the rest will be brought under the training
from 2021 to 2022”.
“The training will be held at three training institutes and 16 training
centres of the BRTC,” he said, adding that the government has given 100
vehicles from the government transport pool in this regard.
About the outcome of the training, the BRTC Chairman said it will a
multi-dimensional effect as the drivers will be efficient not only in driving
but also in English and Arabic languages, which will help them get local and
overseas jobs. “The growing demand of trained drivers will be met after
completion of the training.”
“Most importantly, the rate of accident will decrease manifolds after
completion of the training and help attain the government target to reduce
accidents by 50 percent by 2020 in line with Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs),” he said.
Talking to BSS, Dr Nurul Islam, Director (training) of the BMET, said
they have signed an agreement with SEIP for giving training to a total of
60,000 people on motor-vehicle driving and automobile mechanism in the next
five years starting from 2018.
“We have already started giving training to 17,040 people in 61 training
centres of BMET from January this year and the training will be completed by
2020,” he said.
The government has given 99 vehicles from the government transport pool
to conduct the training programme, he added.
Nurul said: “According to the experts, road accidents mostly occur due
to reckless as well as careless driving of drivers and their lack of
training, careless movement of pedestrians and mechanical fault. After
completion of the training, the road accidents caused by the drivers’ fault
will decrease by manifold”.
He said discipline will come in the transport sector as the drivers will
be given moral education during the training.