On receipt of a recent letter from the Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra informing about the prospective job market, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already requested the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment to convene an inter-ministerial meeting to set what should be done in this regard.

High Commissioner M Humayun Kabir in his letter said Training and Further Education (TAFE), an educational institute of New South Wales, has prepared a Bangladesh Capability Statement to cooperate in training Bangladeshi workers.

In an earlier letter, he figured out lack of formal training on specific trade, and difficulties in complying with Australian standard for skills that led to reluctance on the sponsors' part to hire the Bangladeshi workers.

The TAFE in its statement noted that Bangladesh runs no shortage of skilled workers, but it does not have a certification system, which made it tough for other countries to recognise the skill level of this country's workers.

The Bangladesh envoy informed the foreign ministry that he had already asked the TAFE for such vocational training, which, he suggested, could be provided either through partnership with a local educational institution or establishing a TAFE-NSW college here.

At the initial period, Humayun Kabir further suggested, it would be better to develop a pilot project comprising 5 vocational schools in Bangladesh to impart such professional training.

This would involve several stages of cooperation with the Australian side, such as, developing a joint training curriculum including English language courses, obtaining trainers from Australia and getting TAFE-NSW certification on the workers' qualification, he said.

Once they are certified by this institute of New South Wales in Australia, the successful candidates would be able to search for suitable semi-skilled job in that country.

The category of jobs includes plumbing, motor mechanism, hairdressing, commercial cooking, hospitality management, construction work, interior decoration and design and accounting, among others.

Besides technical support from TAFE-NSW, funding for such projects might be obtained from multilateral and bilateral donor agencies like AusAid, Asian Development Bank, World Bank and even from the host government, the high commissioner noted in the letter.

TAFE-NSW, which delivers vocational training to more than 5 lakh students every year, has already been in cooperation with Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Fiji and other Pacific island countries.

"On a long-term basis such a rigorous training regime may also help train up semi-skilled manpower for markets even beyond Australia, given the growing shortage of manpower in many other European countries," the high commissioner made an observation in the letter.

According to an Australian employment agency, Business Solutions, Australia normally allows 1 lakh skilled workers to enter the country every year under General Skilled Migration Programme.

Apart from a handsome salary package, the candidates selected for employment in Australia would be provided with a total relocation package, including transportation cost, initial accommodation and visa processing, it added.

Presently, about 40,000 Bangladeshis are working in Australia, while 222 Bangladeshi students are studying in the TAFE-NSW with majority in hospitality and accounting.