Creating lasting social impact in Bangladesh through education

Shajan Miah

Founder, Teach Skills International; Founder, Code Club Bangladesh

Graduate, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Diaspora Leaders Programme 2015

Shajan Miah lost his sister, Khela Begum, when she was only 12 years old. This tragedy shaped his mission to inspire a new generation of young people in Bangladesh as a tribute to his sister.

In November 2015, Shajan took part in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi Diaspora Leaders Programme. The programme, supported by the British Council, focused on helping Bangladeshi and Pakistani diaspora leaders to build their capacity to contribute to development in their home countries. Participants were guided through a process of creativity and innovation, including visits to organizations and sessions with senior leaders with knowledge of Bangladesh and Pakistan and of developmental challenges.

Inspired by the programme to take risks and step out of his comfort zone, Shajan took a six-month career break after the programme ended. He spent that time in Bangladesh to set-up the non-profit organization, Teach Skills International. It is an educational agency that provides talks, workshops and full day activities for schools, colleges and university students. It aims to teach students the skills they need for the jobs of the future. Over the past years, Teach Skills International has engaged over 140 schools in Bangladesh and developed a partnership with other non-profit organizations and the Bangladeshi government, inspiring and helping the young people of Bangladesh through quality workshops and educational programmes.

Continuing with his ambition to create lasting social impact in Bangladesh, in 2017, Shajan founded Code Club Bangladesh, an initiative that provides opportunities for children aged 9 to 13 to develop coding skills through free after-school clubs. Code Club was founded in the UK in 2012 and now more than 13,000 Code Clubs operate worldwide.

Code Club Bangladesh provides children with the opportunity to learn coding skills and opens their eyes to the wide range of career possibilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

In 2019, after two years of dedication and growth, Shajan passed the day-to-day running of CCBD activities to the team at Code Club International. As part of his exit plan, Code Club International and Shajan devised a ‘growth leaders’ model which has enabled CCBD to reach many more children across the country. Today, the growth continues to happen mostly organically. Through word of mouth, online membership and strategic partnerships with educational institutions, the organization reaches large numbers of Bangladesh’s children and inspires them to learn new skills and explore new opportunities.