“EBT is needed to improve the skills of workers and productivity of the RMG factories,” said Mohammed Nasir, vice president (Finance) of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

BGMEA, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Centre of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry (CEBAI) jointly organised the seminar at BGMEA Bhaban in the capital.

In coordination with SIDA, H&M, RMG Centre of Excellence Project of ILO and CEBAI, BGMEA has been implementing ‘Sustainable CEBAI and Enhancing Efficiency through Enterprise Based Training (EBT) Model’ in the apparel sector from December 2015.

Six garment factories have so far started applying the ETB model, while four others are set to apply it, said AKM Shahiduzzaman, Project Coordinator of the Centre of Excellence.

He said a target was set to train up some 5,000 workers by December this year using the model and 2,700 workers have so far become beneficiaries of the training.

In the model, a factory needs to finance the trainings, while the project gives technical assistance to set up training centre at the factory, Shahiduzzaman added.

Debasish Shaha, Executive Director of Fakir Apparels that applied the training model, said the productivity of his factory workers has enhanced after they received training from the EBT centre.

ILO skill development specialist Kishore Kumar Singh said the training programme should be inclusive by making its focus also on physically-challenged people.

He said there is misconception in society that physically-challenged people cannot do everything. “If you remove the barriers, these people will not remain unproductive anymore,” he added.

Kishore said sustainable development is not possible leaving behind these people who account for one-seventh of the world population.

Atiqul Islam, CEBAI President, Aftab Uddin Ahmad, CEBAI CEO, Faruque Hassan, CEBAI Vice President and Hasan Mahmud, Executive Director of Bitopi Group, among others, spoke on the occasion