Challenges to Sustainability of Youth-led Projects
Asif Ahmed, a final-year engineering student at Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, understood the problems that cardiac patients and their relatives had to endure. He had a concept paper on developing a low-cost wireless ECG monitoring machine but did not have a way to try out his idea.
In Bangladesh, more than 60% of the population belongs to the youth segment (i.e. between 15-35 years of age) and a significant percentage of them constitute university undergraduates. As part of their regular curriculum, these students conduct research projects, but there is not much effort in transforming the few ideas that came up into tangible solutions, let alone making those available nationwide.
Tertiary education institutions do not have the scope or mechanism for providing seed funding for rapid prototyping of solutions. In addition, the nation imports expensive foreign solutions to solve local problems. An opportunity to develop frugal localized innovations by providing seed funding to university students may address this issue.
Youth-led Innovation to Development Challenges
To make proper use of the students’ untapped potential, a2i has conceived a multi-pronged strategy for embedding the spirit of innovation among the youth and engaging them in identifying citizens’ problems and solving them.
As part of this strategy, a2i undertakes the following programs:
• Solve-a-Thon: A multi-staged, team-based competition for students of public and private colleges, polytechnic institutions and universities. The contestant design and prototype innovative and implementable solutions to identified national problems.
• Women’s Innovation Camp: A multi-staged, team-based competition for female students to propose and design innovative and implementable solutions to identified problems affecting girls and women. The two special features of this camp are its distinct focus on gender-related issues and that girls are required to be the majority in each team.
In case of these competitions, the best prototype developers receive sponsorship and other kinds of support from relevant ministries and directorates. In addition, they can apply for a2i’s “Service Innovation Fund”.”
It was through participating in Solve-a-Thon 2015-2016 that Asif’s concept won the first prize and got assurance from a2i for implementation support through the relevant government agencies. Now young innovators like Asif have an opportunity to secure the support necessary to develop and test prototypes to solve national problems.
Youth Innovation
• a2i is partnered with the Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP) of the Finance Division and BGMEA to ensure ‘equitable’ access to customized skills development facilities and job placement for unemployed youth including ‘Plain Land Ethnic Minority Communities’. Piloting is currently ongoing in Sirajganj District in two trades – Woven and Knit Machine Operation. Youths who are aged between 18 and 35 and want decent jobs in Garment Industry can join the 2-month long training program. After successful completion of the training, the participants will get decent jobs in the Garment Industry.
• a2i is exploring the design of an intervention to potentially revolutionize the mindset of youths in the ‘qawmi madrasa system’ in Bangladesh. The situation at present is one where millions of orphaned and under-privileged under the madrasa system are exposed to a curriculum that does little to impart useful education and knowledge. a2i aims to empower these thousands and millions of youths to turn around their lives. This intervention will create the scope for them to learn at least one skill that is in great demand in local and foreign markets.
• Collaboration with Higher Secondary Stipend Project (HSSP) of Ministry of Education for integrating skills development with stipend programs. The piloting is going on in 10 Upazilas and 200 disadvantageous college students are getting self-employment and income-generating skills.
• With an emphasis on the remotest and most under-privileged areas, a2i, SME Foundation, Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) with support from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs jointly targeted 3,000+ women from all over the country to develop them as ICT entrepreneurs/freelancers.
• Partnership with Microsoft Bangladesh to create woman Hardware Technicians and IT Support Technicians in rural areas. As of December 2016, the skills development of 3,500 rural women was completed.
• Collaboration with Strengthening Women’s Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO) project of UNDP to initiate skills development and self-employment amongst ultra-poor women.
• Coordination and standardization: There are 28 departments under 23 ministries directly involved in skills development or TVET. The National Skills Development Council (NSDC), led by the Honorable Prime Minister, has been founded to coordinate and accelerate the skills development initiatives to make a bridge between different organizations engaged in skills development and employment generation. a2i is supporting NSDC to:
• Bring together all players from across the ecosystem
• Drive the dialogue by discussing key issues, challenges and opportunities
• Moreover, a2i and NSDC are jointly developing a ‘Skills & Employment’ dashboard to coordinate and monitor all the skills development initiatives of the country.
• National Communication and Branding: Technical and Vocational Education and Training or TVET has a stigma associated with it in Bangladesh that this is for students who are not able to ‘make it’ in mainstream education. Uplifting the image of TVET through proper communication and branding is a major national goal. Media, including social media, is leveraged to create positive hype and awareness about TVET and how it can lead to personal prosperity and contribute to national economic growth.
• a2i Co-Organized “Dhaka Summit on Skills, Employability and Decent Work 2016” held from 11-13th December 2018 along with Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE), Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF) and National Coordination Committee for Workers Education (NCCWE). Considering the importance of skills development in the context of Bangladesh and the high priority accorded to skills by the government, the private sector and the development partners, the summit had an overarching skills agenda towards the promotion of decent work. The event was supported by the National Skills Development Council (NSDC), International Labor Organization (ILO), World Bank, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Canadian Government, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
