Upskilling youth is the key to the sustainable growth of future Bangladesh
In their attempt to safeguard the coming decades’ foundation for the nation and to ensure the possibility of competitive growth of skills and expertise among the future leaders, Grameenphone has recently launched ‘Grameenphone Explorers 2.0’, the second batch of its very own youth-development initiative. The program officially began with an engaging orientation session held on April 1, where more than 340 promising students from across the country had joined and expressed their enthusiasm.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister of ICT Division, was the chief guest at the launching event while GP CEO Yasir Azman was present.
Palak said, “One of our country’s strongest resource is the youth population. Developing digital skills for the youth is essential for the development of the country. Initiatives like Grameenphone Explorer 2.0 are key enablers that help devise how the youth of this country can prepare themselves to contribute to the growth of our great nation and unlock new opportunities for our future generations.”
GP Explorers is an innovative upskilling initiative from Grameenphone targeted to unleash the youth’s potential and transform their mindset towards skills of the future. The 12-week-long youth upskilling program is a leading telecommunication organization’s responsible business practices towards the country and crafting its prospects. This year, GP Explorers 2.0 is set to feature a wide range of virtual and real-time engagements between the participants and mentors, primarily focusing on building their communication proficiency, entrepreneurship skills, and digital skills.
Over 1400 students from 67 renowned educational institutions had initially applied to be a part of GP Explorers, from where only 357 were chosen to be eligible for the campaign. As the training rolls on, the aim is to develop all the students’ communication proficiency, entrepreneurship skills, and digital marketing skills, besides grooming their personalities to face the immensely competitive local and global job markets. 70% of the learnings is designed to take place online with interactive digital tools, besides 30% live classes involving collaborative activities. GP Explorers 2.0 will also hold regular counselling and experience sharing sessions for the aspiring youth’s deep cognitive support.
Yasir Azman said, “As we proceed towards the 4th industrial revolution, we have to extract the best of our advantage – our demographic dividend. The first season of GP Explorers has seen significant impact from the three-month program; the-then trainees are now confidently getting into corporate ecosystems. We are optimistic about seeking out more of such future leaders, this time with GP Explorers 2.0, who will contribute and help Bangladesh become a self-sustaining high-income country soon.
Solaiman Alam, Chief Digital and Strategy Officer, Grameenphone, Saad Jashim, Head of Human Resources, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, Syed Tanvir Husain, Chief Human Resources Officer, Grameenphone,Lamiya Bushra, Unit Chief, Human Resources, Mutual Trust Bank were also present at the event as HR Professionals. Conducted by Khairul Basher, Head of Communications of GP, a presentation was made by Farhana Islam on GP Explorer Concept and framework, and Alumni from Batch 1 Afrin Aftab & Mahmud Sakib were present to share their experience.
