The written examination for the 6th batch of the freelancing training program under the Department of Youth Development will be held simultaneously across all 64 districts of Bangladesh. The exam will begin at 9:00 am on Friday (March 6), with around 60,000 candidates expected to participate.
A total of 110,743 applicants applied for the program, competing for 4,800 available seats. From this large pool of applicants, selected candidates have been invited to sit for the written examination. The exam will be conducted in district towns across the country, and successful candidates will be selected to receive freelancing training under the Department of Youth Development.
ADB, Bangladesh sign $150m deal to boost technical training for employment creation
The initiative, launched by the Department of Youth Development, has gradually expanded nationwide. Initially implemented in 16 districts and later expanded to 48 districts, the program has now reached all 64 districts, making it the largest rollout in the initiative’s history. The training activities at the field level are being implemented by E-Learning and Earning Limited.
According to officials involved in the program, 4,800 trainees will be finally selected from approximately 60,000 examinees. This means that, on average, 12 to 13 candidates are competing for each seat. Stakeholders believe this overwhelming response reflects the growing interest among young people in acquiring digital skills and pursuing self-employment through freelancing.
Candidates who pass the written examination will appear for the viva examination on March 7. Based on the final results, the 6th batch of the freelancing training program will begin with 75 trainees selected from each district.
Meanwhile, around 4,000 candidates will participate in the written examination at the head office of E-Learning and Earning Limited in Kalyanpur, Dhaka. Hosting such a large number of candidates in a single day is considered a major event in the sector.
So far, a total of 10,800 students have completed training under this project. Among them, approximately 62 percent or 6,732 trainees have successfully started earning through various national and international freelancing marketplaces. Their combined earnings have reached about $1,353,636, which is equivalent to approximately BDT 227,014,416.
Earlier, during the phase implemented in 16 districts, 6,400 individuals received training. Of them, 4,517 trainees were able to engage in income-generating activities, reflecting a success rate of over 70 percent. During that phase, total earnings reached around $1.581 million, equivalent to approximately BDT 197.6 million.
Sector insiders say that the continuation of such initiatives and their growing success will enable more young people in Bangladesh to enter the global freelancing market, potentially leading to a significant increase in earnings from the sector in the future.