The commerce ministry plans to start training for fresh garment workers to build them into a skilled workforce and to counsel them on working environment in factories.

The ministry will train 1,440 workers, mainly from the entry level once a year, a senior official of the ministry said yesterday.

Currently, the garment sector, the main foreign currency earner, runs 25 percent short of skilled workers, which sets back productivity.

At present, four million workers are employed in the sector that needs one million more for the smooth running of the current production cycle.

“We will also try to manage a job at any factory for a trained worker as demand for such workers is high at this moment,” said Monoj Kumar Roy, an additional secretary of the commerce ministry.

The ministry sits in a meeting with other stakeholders today to discuss the details of the training programme, he said.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Textile Directorate, Handloom Board, Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority and Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training will train the workers.

The commerce ministry will finance the programme from its Tk 20 crore fund which was given to the ministry in fiscal 2007-08 by the finance ministry. The expenditure of the programme will be borne from the interest earnings and profit of the fund.

Trainers will focus on workers' technical know-how, skills, factory environment, workers' attitude and behaviour and security and cleanliness.

The training will also focus on operation of sweater machines, woven machines, knitting machines and quality control.