Women make up 58% of ASSET trainees completing courses in 6 months
More than 2.25 lakh youths complete vocational courses as World Bank extends project tenure to 2028.
Women accounted for nearly 58% of the 2.25 lakh youths who completed skill development courses under the Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation (ASSET) project between February and August this year.
According to updated project data, 2,25,336 trainees completed short courses and Enterprise-Based Training (EBT) programmes during the six-month period. Of them, 1,30,470 were women and 94,866 were men, meaning women outnumbered men by 35,604.
The project, implemented by the Directorate of Technical Education under the Technical and Madrasah Education Division of the Ministry of Education, also included 4,080 ethnic minority youths and 779 people with physical disabilities.
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Of the total trainees, 21,702 completed 360-hour institution-based short courses, with women accounting for 38.87%. Another 2,03,634 completed EBT programmes, which provide hands-on workplace training, with female participation reaching 59.93%.
After completing the courses, trainees underwent assessment and received formal certification from the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA).
To expand training coverage, the government has extended the ASSET project's duration by 18 months. Following a request from the Bangladesh government on 26 April 2026, the World Bank approved the project's restructuring and extension on 29 July, moving the completion date to 30 June 2028.
ASSET Project Director and Additional Secretary Meer Zahid Hasan said digital database management would be strengthened during the extended period to increase participation of women and marginalised communities while ensuring transparency in trainee selection.
"Strict field-level monitoring to ensure quality is expected to translate these skills directly into employment for women," he said.
