National Skill Development Authority (NSDA)
National Skill Development Authority (NSDA)
Blog Article
National Skill Development Authority (NSDA)
According to the National Skill Development Authority Act, 2018, the National Skill Development Authority (NSDA) is mandated to conduct all activities including formulation, implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of uniform training programs with the aim of creating skilled human resources through planning and coordination of skill development based on the needs of the national and international labor market. has been established. The National Skill Development Authority (NSDA) has started activities from February 2019 with the aim of fundamental structural changes in the skill development ecosystem in Bangladesh under this Act and the National Skill Development Rules-2020 issued in its wake. NSDA has three bodies – the Authority, the Executive Committee and the Governing Board. The Chairman of the Governing Board is the Hon'ble Principal Adviser and the Chairman of the Executive Committee is the Principal Secretary to the Principal Adviser.
Responsibilities and functions of NSDA
According to the National Skill Development Authority Act, 2018, one of the tasks of the National Skill Development Authority is- 1) Formulating the National Skill Development Policy, Strategy and Action Plan, 2) Coordinating all skill development programs conducted by various ministries/departments/organizations and private and NGO levels, 3) To monitor and evaluate activities related to formulation and implementation of training curriculum for all training institutions with the aim of creating skilled human resources, 4) Establishment of sector-wise skill database, 5) Accreditation of prior experience of skills, 6) System of quality improvement, certification and mutual recognition of institutions. 7) Formation of Industry Skills Council and providing necessary support, 8) Strengthening industry linkages, 9) Registration of all skill development training institutes, 10) Promotion of skills including making recommendations regarding utilization of National Human Resource Development Fund. Attracting more youth in skill development/training through outreach.
Current Activities of NSDA
Responsibility for registration of institutions conducting skill development level 1 to 6 courses of Bangladesh National Qualification Framework (BNQF) and skill related short courses (maximum 360 hours), identification of courses/fields for occupation based certification, level 1 to 6 skill training courses under the National Qualification Framework. Competency Standards (CS) and Curriculum Formulation, Approval and Implementation Monitoring, Competency Development of Trainers, Assessors, Trainee Assessment and Certification and Certification process through RPL is carried out by NSDA.
Registration process of public and private training institutes across the country is ongoing by the National Skill Development Authority. Already more than 900 skill training centers have been registered at government/private level. NSDA has so far formulated 163 Competency Standards (CS), 257 Course Accreditation Documents (CAD), 103 Curriculum, 16 Competency Based Learning Materials (CBLM). At present, with all these activities, the assessment pool is being formed to assess the trainees.
National Skills Portal
A National Skills Portal (NSP) has been developed with a total of 16 modules including real time data on employment demand and supply, online registration with graduate tracking, training evaluation, trainee assessment and certification facilities.
Industry organizations will have an integrated database of all trainees and training institutes from registration and certification on the portal. In this, the industry will be able to collect its required skilled manpower through the portal. Through the portal, it will be possible to collect, store, analyze and prepare automatic reports of various types of skill related data. The portal will have various connectivity including Bangladesh Election Commission, various payment gateways and Google Maps. The domain skillsportal.gov.bd has been purchased from BTCL and hosted at the National Data Center of Bangladesh Computer Council.
NSDA in the international arena
Bangladesh became a member of WorldSkills International in 2017 and WorldSkills Asia in 2018. In the 45th World Skills Competition held in Kazan, Russia in 2019, Bangladesh participated in two occupations – Pastry & Confectionery and Fashion Technology. In World Skills Competition Switzerland-2022 Bangladeshi contestants have secured 8th place in bakery trade, 18th place in fashion technology and 29th place in cooking trade.
Comment
Bangladesh is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2031 to become an upper middle income country by 2031 and a developed country by 2041. Bangladesh is currently enjoying a favorable demographic window of opportunity which will remain in effect until 2033. 2.2 million working population are joining the labor market every year. But it will not be possible to convert this demographic advantage into a demographic dividend if it is not possible to make the youth joining the labor market efficient. On the other hand, another significant feature of Bangladesh's labor market is the presence of a large informal sector. 85.1% of the total labor force is engaged in the informal sector. About a third of these working people have no formal education. Therefore, in addition to the large informal sector, developing the skills of the large number of less educated people to make them suitable for the labor market is a big challenge and NSDA has started working to meet that challenge. National Skill Development Authority will play a supportive role in realizing the dream of reaching upper middle income countries by 2031 and developed income countries by 2041 by creating skilled and trained human resources to meet all the challenges.