The current employment growth rate in Bangladesh is 2.4 percent. At this pace, it will be possible to generate employment for half of the unemployed by 2030. The government has declared youth development as one of the agendas of national development. But in the conventional way it will not be possible to meet the government's declared employment goals.
The information came up in a dialogue organised by the Research Institute, Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and The Asia Foundation (AF). Their survey has shown that the training centers set up in rural areas of the country do not have an effective training system to make the youth skilled for employment.
The findings came in a report titled 'The Role of Government Services in the Employment of Tertiary Youth', jointly undertaken by the private research firm CPD and the Asia Foundation. CPD Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan said, “The supply of such manpower cannot be ascertained to meet the manpower demand in the country's economy.”
The political identity of a job seeker is not important. For the selection of skilled and capable manpower it is important to ensure a competitive environment in the society, he added. Member of Parliament Nahim Razzaq, questioned the quality of conventional education, saying that many people could not write an essay correctly even after passing their MA (Master of Arts).
He indicates that private sector can play an important role in curriculum making of skilled manpower since our economy is dependent on the private sector. Parliamentarian Rumin Farhana strongly criticized the education system, mentioning Bangladesh allocates only 2 percent of GDP budget to the education sector. It is the lowest in South Asian countries.
Regarding the quality of education, she pointed out that thousands of students could not pass the admission test even after getting GPA-5. It is not possible to create skilled manpower with such poor quality students. She emphasized on technical and vocational education.
Advocate Sarah Kamal said, “Our education depends a lot on certification instead of work-oriented education.” Which is one of the reasons for the increasing unemployment, she added. Dhaka University Professor Selim Raihan said, “Young people have an interest in government jobs. They also have to think about self-employment. The unemployment rate among our youths is high.”
In this case, technical education can provide a solution. Young people need to create new employment with their own initiative, he added. Drawing attention on the young people he said that they need to know what kind of skills the world is going to require in the future and develop themselves accordingly.
