The first batch of Japan Automechanic Training School has completed graduation with all the students getting jobs, according to a statement. 

The graduation ceremony took place at the school in Dhaka on Thursday, according to a statement from Yunus Centre yesterday. The vocational training centre is a joint initiative of SK Dream Japan, an NGO, Grameen Shikkha, a non-formal school programme for slum children, and Rangs Workshop.

Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus presided over the ceremony, while Hirao Tsuneaki, managing director of the school, and Duncan Powers, general manager, were also present.

Three of the new graduates have been hired by the school itself as junior teachers while the remaining seven have been recruited by Rangs Workshop, according to the statement.

“With world class training and experience, I hope one day, today's graduates will become the new generation of entrepreneurs and open their own workshops and be job creators. These young graduates will open a new door for the youths of Bangladesh,” Yunus said.

The aim of the school is to train Bangladeshi youths in the maintenance and repair of automobiles, especially cars manufactured in Japan.

The school commenced its operations in January 2015 with 10 students, all of them are children of Grameen Bank borrowers. The training centre is located at the Rangs Workshop in Tejgaon.

The school has now 32 students and aims to scale up its capacity gradually to 200 students.

The joint venture provides hands-on mechanic and English language training, enabling the students to work in any part of the globe. Highly skilled local and foreign trainers from different countries, including Japan and Australia, teach at the school.

Applications from the children of Grameen Bank borrowers are screened once a year and the selected applicants get interest-free education loan from Grameen Shikkha.

Students get all equipment, dress and accommodation covered in the loan, and get one year grace period before starting to pay back the loan through long term instalments. 

About 37,000 reconditioned cars hit the streets of Dhaka each year and there is a chronic shortage of qualified mechanics in the city.