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I am in Mirpur visiting the Underprivileged Children's Education programme (UCEP) Technical School. Accompanied by programme managers Anis and Ayub, I trawl through classrooms, photographing the children.
I knew about the seventeen hands-on vocational skills taught here, but seeing their sheer variety opens my eyes.
In the electronics class, a girl confidently identifies the terminals of a transistor using a millimetre while another explains the differences between waveforms on a signal generator. Auto mechanics students show me the assembly of a steering system, while the CNC (computerised numerical control) students punch in digital measurements for precise machining.
All of them aim to become skilled employees in electronics and light engineering industries.
A blue light flashes behind a curtain where boys are learning welding in isolated cubicles. Welding is key for the growing shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh.
In a large area devoted to garments training, Sharmin is learning how to iron and package a shirt. I ask her if she likes coming to school.
“I love it,” she says.
“But why?” I insist.
“Because,” she says, “I enjoy learning new things. This training will land me a job.”
Meanwhile, several boys in the computer class are trying out Powerpoint slide transitions. The teacher tells me that students learn basic computer literacy in the UCEP feeder school and advance those skills here.
Automotive mechanics, welding and machining, electronics, textile weaving and spinning, offset printing, screen printing, industrial woodworking, plumbing and pipes, refrigeration and air-conditioning, garment expertise, even aide to nurse - it is all here. The school steers children from Dickensian drudgery into meaningful careers in the nation's growing economy.
UCEP was started in Dhaka in 1972 by New Zealander Lindsay Cheyne. He wanted to enable poor working urban children to escape poverty by teaching skills valuable to employers.
Brigadier General (Retd.) Aftab, who has run UCEP since 1992, meets me at the school. He explains their two levels of schooling. Urban working children first enter UCEP integrated schools which provide national curriculum education with hands-on vocational skills; after Class 8, many of them proceed to UCEP technical schools for in-depth vocational training.
“We also emphasise English,” he says, “as a tool for learning and a value-add skill for our students.” Thus, instead of “A for Apple, B for Banana, C for cat” youngsters learn “A for antenna, B for bolt, C for chisel.”
“UCEP covers 42,000 children in 53 primary and 10 technical schools today,” he says.
Employment rate for graduates is 95%. Their average income rises 350% immediately after graduation.
Children are bussed here from all over town, even far-away Kamrangir Char and Jatrabari, for the four hour daily programme. They also receive a small monthly stipend to compensate for lost work hours.
In my short visit there, I can only imagine the obstacles UCEP must overcome, but I quickly realise what it has accomplished. Urban working children are usually street-smart, creative and energetic. UCEP has channelled this energy into lifelong productive activities. Bravo!
