With the kind of education students are
receiving from the educational institutions in Bangladesh, they are not
achieving skills required for employment, a recent study has found this
information.
This survey was jointly run by private
organizations such as BRAC, BIGD and BRAC University. This survey was conducted
on more than 4000 young people aged between 15 and 35 years all over
Bangladesh. The survey revealed that only 16% of these students are confident
in computer and English language. Besides, only one-fifth of the participants
think that their education will be helpful in getting a job.
Nimmi
Nusrat Hamid, one of the researchers of this survey, said, “One-third of Bangladesh’s
population is young people, who will represent the country in the future.”
“So,
to know the needs or problem areas of the young people and which areas they
should work in to the best of their interest – this is quite a timely research
to bring out these issues.
She told BBC Bangla, “It is important to
know the opinions of the young people regarding what are the areas they are
good at and what issues they are most concerned with.”
While conducting the research, it was seen
that most of the young people are not aware of their own needs, for example, if
someone wants to be an entrepreneur he/she does not know where to get the
capital from, and it is same in jobs too, she revealed.
In that case, Miz Hamid raised a question about
the prevailing education system of the country.
He
said, “The education that the youth society of Bangladesh is receiving at
schools and colleges is not preparing them well for their professional career.
“It
is because our education system largely lacks in skills. And then, there are
not enough jobs fitting the skills they are obtaining from education
institutions.”
“Then our youth society does not have that
skills necessary to do well in the existing jobs”, said the researcher. Skills that are
required include operating computers, English language skills, or vocational
skills.
According to research report, only 14% of
the young people have got vocational training. Considering this level of skill,
only 24% youth are skilled- that means they are confident about their computing
skills. But when it comes to women, only 10% are skilled. On the other hand,
21% young men are ahead in English skills while the rate of this linguistic
skill for women is only 14%. That means, women are far behind in terms of
skills.
This gap is more visible in villages than in
cities. The main reason for this is said to be the under-developed quality of
school education. Moreover, schools where standard education is given are out
of reach for many.
The study has shown that young people who
are still studying, their main goal is to go abroad after the end of the study.
It is because they are not hopeful about their career prospect at home. The
study has shown that those who are relatively less educated mostly want to
migrate to UAE and Malaysia. And those who are skilled in English language and
computer, they want to go to countries like Australia and USA.
Having no role models for the youth is at
the center of their leaving the country. At least 54% of the students think so.
Miz Hamid opines that the students need to be made more skilled with enhanced
government networking.
“Government
job is everyone’s target. But outside government sector, the young people have
many other potential career opportunities which they have to be given.”
“One
of the reasons for young people becoming frustrated is that they think there is
no one to listen to them. But these young people will lead us.”
