A $300 million funding agreement was struck today by the Bangladeshi government and the World Bank to provide 900,000 economically disenfranchised rural youth with the skills and alternative education they need for employment and entrepreneurship. There will be roughly 60% of them who are female.
The Economic Acceleration and Resilience for NEET (EARN) Project would assist vulnerable and underprivileged youngsters in overcoming obstacles to education and employment. It will offer rural adolescents who are not enrolled in school, employed, or in training (NEET) entrepreneurial help, alternative education, and skills training. In order to provide a variety of options for skill development as well as online and offline training courses in market-driven and futuristic trades, the project will create vocational training centers. They will be in places that rural adolescents, particularly women, will find comfortable. Additionally, it will provide supportive mentorship and competitive finance for entrepreneurial endeavors. It will aid female students, in particular, those who dropped out of secondary school, in finishing their vocational studies.
"The youth are any nation's future. One of Bangladesh's top development priorities is to establish a competitive workforce that includes all young people, according to Abdoulaye Seck, the World Bank's Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. By focusing on underlying cultural and societal issues, the project will address skill development, educational continuity, and employment possibilities to help create a competitive workforce.
In Bangladesh, 12.6 million young people, or around 27 percent of the population, are considered NEETs. Most of them live in rural areas and are female in proportion to their population. The project will provide skills development training for a variety of market-relevant trades with a focus on modern and non-traditional trades, especially for women, to increase their employability.
The project would offer access to Bangladesh Open University education programs through an accelerated curriculum for secondary school dropout kids and adolescents. They will have access to technical education at the diploma level in disciplines including nursing, medical technology, agricultural food processing, and others. The project will offer budding entrepreneurs coaching, seed funding, and other pertinent services to encourage entrepreneurship.
According to Sharifa Khan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Government of Bangladesh, "The government placed high priority on economically engaging the youth, particularly female and disadvantaged ones, who are not in education or employment through skill development." "This project supports the country's graduation from LDC status in 2026 and the vision 2041, and it is in line with the Eighth Five-Year Plan 2021–2025. By creating a thorough support system for the vital economic inclusion of the rural NEET youth, including those with disabilities and a special needs population segment, it will assist the government's aims and policies.
The project will initiate communication and awareness-raising efforts, include the communities in project planning, and monitor project operations in order to provide a supportive environment for adolescents to engage in skill development activities. Additionally, it will offer incentives in the form of stipends, exam costs, and textbooks to encourage young people, particularly women. Additionally, it will encourage young people's psychosocial well-being and promote cultural and sporting events.
Sharifa Khan and Abdoulaye Seck signed the contract on behalf of the government and the world bank, respectively.
The loan is issued by the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank and has a 30-year duration with a five-year grace period. With a $15.86 billion budget, Bangladesh now has the largest active IDA program. Since Bangladesh's independence, the World Bank has provided the nation with roughly $40 billion in grants, interest-free loans, and concessional credits. The World Bank was one of the earliest development partners to support Bangladesh.
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