Bangladesh is moving fast due to global digitization and technological development. Bangladesh is now becoming one of the most important countries in the world in digital outsourcing. According to the United Nations agency for trade and development’s (UNCTAD) Digital Economy Report-2019, in Bangaladesh there are about 6.5 million freelancers working in this sector and earning more then 100 million foreign exchange every year.
Besides, more than 3 million people are working in the IT sector of Bangladesh. As training is needed to enhance the skills of IT workers and professionals in this work, the demand for training has also increased to ensure market access for newcomers. Online training demand significantly increased in covid situation
Why Online IT training is on the Rise
Low labor costs have made Bangladesh an important player in the global outsourcing market and many large companies in the developed world , including the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, are now outsourcing IT from developing countries like Bangladesh. Bangladesh is becoming a major source of freelancing employment. Freelancing jobs range from computer programming to web design, tax report preparation and search engine optimization. These IT-based jobs have created huge employment opportunities in emerging countries, which were not there before. As a result huge employment has been created.
According to a research report by World Vision Bangladesh, There are 44 million youths in Bangladesh, 1 out of every 10 youths is unemployed . Every year, thousands of students graduate from university but remain unemployed because they didn’t get the job they want. As a result, the number of educated unemployed is increasing day by day. However, they have the opportunity to start freelancing easily through IT training. And the number of IT training centers to train students is also increasing. In this, a large number of students are getting the opportunity to get involved in freelancing by receiving training. Most of these institutions offer live classes as well as online classes. From these institutions, students can take various courses from home at a convenient time and at a much lower cost through which they have the opportunity to acquire skills in various subjects like Facebook Marketing, Digital Marketing, SEO, App Development.
Those who are Working with Freelancing and IT Training
The youth of Bangladesh are currently undergoing training in the IT sector at various training service institutes and some international institutes to learn freelancing. Many more institutions, including Instructor, wE Make Pro and Bohubrihi, are offering online courses for students.
By contacting these organizations, it is known that the youth are now showing interest in various new subjects. These include graphics, web development, digital marketing, accounting, Power Point as well as various Excel works. And most of the students are feeling more comfortable doing these trainings online than offline. As there is an opportunity to do it online, the students are also getting the opportunity to take these trainings from different cities outside Dhaka as a result everyone’s participation is being ensured.
Also the ICT Ministry of Bangladesh are conducting their training activities online on a limited scale and is imparting training on information and communication technology. Students are also improving their skills by reading and watching blogs on YouTube or Google.
Obstacles to Online Training
Bangladesh still has some obstacles as the training classes have gone online. The biggest obstacle is the quality of internet service. Broadband internet are also too expensive. Moreover, broadband internet service is not available in all parts of the country. This is a big problem for freelancers in remote areas. In addition, even if there is a broadband facility, it is often slow. Using the mobile data is also quite expensive.
Mechanical error is another cause. Since students take part in these trainings to increase their knowledge in the IT sector, most of the students do not have skills in operating ICT devices. That’s why they struggle to solve any problems with their devices or meeting software.
Another big problem is the easy transaction system of money. As it is not seen directly, the only way to make financial transactions is to transfer money to banking mobile etc. But most of these beginner students do not have a bank account and they transfer money to mobile. Mobile money transfer causes system loss quite a lot and it increases the transfer cost also.
Possibility of Online Information Technology Training in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is currently going through a demographic dividend. Most of the population of the country is working. There is a huge potential in transforming this huge youth population into human resources. Bangladesh also has a strong position in the global freelancing world. In the current Corona situation, learning freelancing is an ideal time for the youth of Bangladesh. Where a huge portion of youth are unemployed. All this has opened the door to a huge potential for freelancing in Bangladesh.
Employment in the freelancer and IT sector is constantly increasing in Bangladesh. At the same time, the various training facilities are increasing. Although the concept of online training is quite old, it has gained momentum since the global corona pidemic in 2020. While 2020 has had a negative impact on almost all sectors, it has had a positive impact on the IT sector. This has made online IT training possible.