Coordinated efforts key to jobs for youth with disabilities

Shamarukh Fakhruddin, trustee of BBDN, said creating an inclusive labour market required coordinated efforts by the government and private sector.

“The mindset of employers is extremely important. We need to ask whether they are genuinely willing to recruit persons with disabilities and whether the workplace ecosystem allows them to work effectively,” she said.

Even when employers arranged transport and adapted factories, inaccessible roads and surrounding infrastructure could prevent workers with disabilities from reaching their workplaces, she said, calling for broader government intervention.

“Training should not be considered the end of our responsibility. We need to develop courses in consultation with employers, prepare participants for recruitment and provide mentoring and support after they join the workplace,” she added.

Joha Jamilur Rahman, head of training at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), said employers remained concerned about workplace accessibility, accommodation costs, safety and gaps between candidates’ skills and industry requirements.

MCCI could help member companies recruit persons with disabilities by connecting them with specialised training institutions, promoting inclusive recruitment and internship programmes, and advocating simpler tax incentives, Joha said.

Masreka Khan, senior programme officer at the International Labour Organization, called for stronger coordination among the government, employers and workers, alongside more flexible admission criteria for persons with disabilities seeking technical and vocational education.

“We need a coordinated approach involving the government, employers and workers to make the labour market more inclusive,” she said.

She also stressed the need to translate policies into practical workplace guidelines and improve recruitment and job retention.

Md Ruhul Amin, chairman of the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, said students with disabilities received admission quotas, extra examination time and scribes where needed.

“We have a 1 percent admission quota in certain programmes, while a 5 percent quota applies to skills development programmes,” he said.

The board offered diploma programmes in around 32 technologies, SSC vocational courses in 29 trades and short courses in 123 trades. Accessibility was also being considered in new technical education facilities, he added.

Nazneen Kawshar Chowdhury, executive chairman of the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA), said around 43 percent of skills training providers were underutilised, partly because of a shortage of qualified trainers.

“Completion-based training does not necessarily produce skilled workers. We must focus on competency-based training so that trainees acquire the skills employers need,” she said.

The NSDA aims to build a pool of 10,000 trainers by 2030 but has trained around 3,000 so far, she added. Under a project implemented with German cooperation, 3,000 people are expected to receive technical skills training, with 900 targeted for employment by June 2027.

Md Abdul Karim, executive director of UCEP Bangladesh, said the organisation provided job training, career counselling and post-placement monitoring to help persons with disabilities secure and retain employment. Its job placement rate was 75 percent, he said.

Training curricula must reflect industry demand, and employers should be involved in both training and job placement, he said, stressing the need for accessible training equipment and workplaces.

Salma Mahbub, executive director of Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus (B-SCAN), said a lack of reliable, disaggregated data made it difficult to assess the labour-market participation of persons with disabilities and design effective employment programmes.

“Based on our experience, we know that people with different types of disabilities are engaged in various economic activities, but we need reliable data to understand their participation and employment patterns,” she said.

Shafiq R Bhuiyan, head of internal communication and CSR at BRAC Bank, called for training programmes tailored to participants’ abilities and employers’ needs, alongside better measurement of outcomes.

“Our aim is to provide training that produces measurable outcomes, so that after three months, six months or a year, we can demonstrate the impact of the technical skills participants have acquired,” he said, adding that measuring the impact remained a challenge.

Nazma Ara Begum Poppy, national project support officer at UN Women Bangladesh, said women with disabilities faced additional barriers, including social stigma, limited access to information, transport difficulties and family restrictions.

Ekram Kabir, senior executive vice-president for communication at BRAC Bank, said growing willingness among commercial banks to support young people with disabilities was encouraging. Bangladesh Bank was also working on comprehensive corporate social responsibility guidelines addressing these issues, he added.

Sousan Suha, youth engagement analyst at UNDP Bangladesh, also spoke at the event, which was moderated by Tanjim Ferdous, head of strategic partnership at The Daily Star.