78% youth think they did not receive job-oriented education

Some 78% educated youth think their education would not help them get a job, Sanem and ActionAid revealed citing the Youth Survey 2018 during a dialogue on addressing vulnerability of the country's youth.

The South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (Sanem) and ActionAid are jointly conducting a study that aims to shed light on vulnerabilities of the youth of Bangladesh.

"For this study, we have taken information from the Youth Survey 2018 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. We want to find out the areas of vulnerabilities for the youth that we should work on," Sakil Ahmmed, lecturer at the Dhaka University's Department of Economics, said at a seminar on Wednesday.

"We started the study in June and it will end in the coming October," he informed at the event held at the Hotel Amari Dhaka.

"One third of our total population is youth," he said, adding, "The youth are not getting up-to-date education and training."

Sakil Ahmmed said, the youth think unemployment among those with advanced degrees is increasing as the education that young people are receiving does not match the demands of the job market.

Sanem Executive Director Selim Raihan said, "We have to utilise the demographic dividend. For this, youth should be given modern education. We need to increase our education budget. The programs that have been taken are also lacking in implementation. We can benefit from demographic dividend for another 15 years. We have to use it. For this, a strategy should be worked out. There are some institutional weaknesses that need to be addressed."

Chief Guest Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Tajul Islam said in response to a question that the government has made a lot of progress in the infrastructure sector. Industries are being built and employment is being created.

"The private sector should also come forward alongside the government. I have been hearing about the fear of not getting a job since I was in college. It will perhaps remain. But we are working on modern education," the minister said.

ActionAid Country Director Farah Kabir said that the government has many programs for the youth but they are not being implemented.

"We need to identify why the program is not being implemented and take quick action," he said.

"The LGRD ministry should take action on this issue. They should take steps to provide technical training at village level," he added.

Abdul Basar, a development worker said, the equipment used in technical education is old.

"We have to adapt to the fourth industrial revolution. Students should be taught the use of Internet of Thinking (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence," he said.

Uttoron Team Leader, Nadia Afrin Shams said, unemployment is increasing due to lack of technical training of students.

He said, "Youth should be informed where technical education is available."

Abdul Latif Mollah, joint secretary and director (Implementation), Department of Youth Development, said, "We have a lack of equipment to provide training suitable for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. But we have taken up a few projects to train the youth. We are preparing skilled trainers to train them."