In Bangladesh, a woman now earns her own living by applying the skills she learned in a government-backed training program — and she is one of 13,895 already working or running her own small business. That is the headline behind the Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation project, better known by its short name, ASSET, run by the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) on behalf of the country's Education Ministry.
The numbers tell a stirring story. Altogether, 46,248 women across the country received hands-on training through the project. When the time came to test what they had learned, nearly seven in ten passed as competent. Of those who earned that qualification, roughly half have confirmed records of employment or self-employment — a total of 13,895 women who now put their skills to work every day.
What makes this project special is how closely it is tied to real workplaces. BWCCI connects its trainees directly with factories, small and medium enterprises, and local entrepreneurs in districts all over Bangladesh. The women learn in industrial environments, not just classrooms, through courses that have been completed in 1,927 batches as of 12 September. Alongside their hands-on lessons, they receive apprenticeship opportunities, job placement support, entrepreneurship development, market linkage, and business and financial counselling.
The training itself covers a wide range of practical trades: tailoring and dressmaking, fashion design, product development and modelling, food and beverage production, embroidery, hand stitching, block-batik and screen printing, beautification, caregiving, information technology and freelancing, and entrepreneurship development. In other words, women are equipped to earn in fields where Bangladeshi households and businesses actually need workers.
The project's reach goes beyond big numbers, touching real lives in specific ways. Among the trainees are 14 women with disabilities and 263 from ethnic minority communities, ensuring that opportunity reaches people who are too often left out.
BWCCI President Sangita Ahmed put the project's deeper purpose into plain words: when a woman starts earning by applying the skills she has gained, the benefit is not limited to her alone — it sends a positive ripple through her family and the local economy. She added that creating market linkages, easier financing, and new jobs must go hand in hand with strengthening women's skills and entrepreneurial ability.
Sumanta Kumar Mahanta, deputy sub-project manager for ASSET-BWCCI, said that bringing more than 46,000 women into skills training was an important achievement — but the real goal was never just the training itself. "We want women to use their skills to get jobs, engage in self-employment or build their own enterprises," he said.
The program points toward a future where training and opportunity are woven together, so that every woman who learns a skill can also find a way to use it — and in doing so, lift her family and her community along with her.