Last Update: 28 October 2021
Women in a country like Bangladesh have to face many challenges to move forward. Empowering women essentially calls for women’s education, thousands of girls in a country such as Bangladesh are certainly deprived of the basic literacy due to poverty. However, innovative solutions can bring a positive change in the society and the Bangladesh government has come up with a new initiative – training women to be motorcycle mechanics.
A partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Bangladeshi Government, and the European Union has created a new way for girls to overcome educational disadvantages, and enter a line of work that was previously not a genuine option. They’re training local women to be motorcycle mechanics!
Bangladesh Government Training Women Motorcycle Mechanics
The program combines basic literacy and numeracy skills with practical training, and is producing a new generation of skilled women. One of the trainees, Khadija, explains that “When we first joined, people used to doubt if girls like us can do this”, but the girls are proving that they’re up to it. It’s not just a school for girls; there are boys there too, and they’re working together. Khadija goes on to say “We started working and slowly we became able to provide good service. When customers saw that we could service motorcycles as well as do other things, they stopped doubting us”.
The program for the mechanics is based on competency, dictated by industry standards. This means there is no reason gender should come into the equation. As long as they have the merit, any female can do this job. This seems to suit the women trainees perfectly.
If this environment, which is safe and productive for girls, is proof that there is progress is happening, we can’t wait to see how it expands in other industries around the country.
The video below tells the entire story.