Search This Blog

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Youth workforces’ participation in economic development process demands skill-based education


Md Bayazid Khan

People are the real wealth of nations. Workforce is the key to economic development of a country. Sectors like agriculture, industry, tourism, IT, telecom, trade & commerce, communication badly need workforces for its expansion and development that tend to develop economy significantly. But rapid and sustainable economic development of a nation mostly depends on its productive workforces. More people’s involvement in work definitely keeps economic activities of the country moving by earning, saving and paying taxes. When countries have a greater share of people who can work, save, and pay taxes, they have the potential to transform their economies by stepping up growth and development. However, to utilize this opportunity, countries need to create not only more jobs but also better jobs ensuring higher wages and productivity.

Workforces’ existences in the form of unemployment, disguised unemployment and under employment are equally detrimental to sustainable economic development. Unemployment in any form is a drag on an economy and society. It undercuts productivity, spending and investment that may stunt national growth. It contributes to inequality and spurs social tension.

Without an income, millions of young people find themselves living in poverty. Initial low-paying jobs and delayed entry into the workforce limit lifetime earning potential. The inability to find gainful employment limits young people’s income and skill development. Unemployment at an early age can negatively affect future earnings. Jobless young people experience vulnerability to future or long-term unemployment, wage scarring and foregone earnings, wasted capacity, skills stagnation, and short and long-term detriment to physical or emotional health. On the contrary, greater number of aging population than young people mean burden of the economy as well as less productivity in all indicators of economic growth. An aging population needs to be supported that have fewer employment opportunities. With the rise in the aging population, a country will have to focus more on pension scheme, social security network scheme, health protecting scheme etc. Moreover, a country faces monetary losses from foregone tax revenue and payouts of benefits because of aging people. Economic growth is undermined by lost productivity of its working age population. Therefore, it is inevitable for the government of a country to utilize its entire youth workforces in the process of economic development.

According to estimates by the International Labor Organization, the world labor force currently numbers approximately 3 billion people, out of whom 23 to 30% are underemployed and about 140 million are fully unemployed. The severity and consistently high levels of youth unemployment worldwide are of special concern. The ILO estimates that there are about 60 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 who are presently in search of work but cannot find it.  Bangladesh has a huge young and productive workforce that will continue to increase until 2030 and can contribute to dramatic socio-economic development.

A number of factors make the jobs challenge more acute among youth. Constraints to youth employment may be borne on the individual level along with result from market or government failure. Inadequate skills and mismatches between education and skills have emerged as chief concerns. In Bangladesh, constraints to youth employment may be identified as workforce population have a lack of either education or vocational/technical training or necessary skills, shrunk labor market and inadequate job opportunities.


Youth workforce is the key to economic development of a country. Bangladesh has 19 percent of its population between 15 and 24 years, who hold immense potentials. To ensure their involvement as productive workforces the country needs to diversify its economy. Presently, employment in Bangladesh is concentrated mostly in agriculture, readymade garments and informal sector. In the informal sector, the payments that employees get are not enough to maintain a good living. Apart from that workforces involved in informal sector are victimizing of underemployment too. There are huge potentials in IT, banking, telecom, trade & commerce, tourism and power & energy sectors. But the country needs to have policies of promoting skill-based education to meet the market demand in the said sectors for accommodating youth workforces. Workforces with highest degree in general education can never satisfy employers of the said sectors to be employed them. Besides attaining requisite skills and qualifications by young workforces, foreign investments might be encouraged in these sectors rather than investing in readymade garments and other informal sectors. Moreover, youths have to be given incentives for entrepreneurship.

Therefore, action-oriented policies for creating quality jobs needed to utilize young workforces’ productivity. According to the UNDP report, Bangladesh needs to create 25 million jobs between 2016 and 2030, which means 16 lakh new jobs should be available every year.  To stimulate the job market, the government needs to improve the business environment to encourage new businesses as well as foreign investments. On the other hand, skill based education policy might be chalked out and henceforth curriculum in all three tiers of education might be revised. Our educationists those are responsible for designing curriculum forgot their weaknesses in some subjects when they were student. They might remember that a student can never strong in all subjects. Rather they should have the provision of selecting the area/wing of education that they feel comfort at the outset of secondary level. There could be different options for students at grade six like IT, telecom, energy, science, banking, trade & commerce, tourism, art & craft, sports, history (Bangladesh & International) etc. Subjects like Bangla, English, General Mathematics (arithmetic and simple geometry), Religion & Moral Education, General Science and History & culture of Bangladesh might be kept compulsory for all wings. There might have specialized subjects (maximum four) for respective wings/areas of education. Is it rational for all students at secondary level to learn calculus, trigonometry etc.? Rather they should learn to solve arithmetical and simple geometrical problems which are very much relevant to real life activities. In addition, educational institutions (school, college, madrasah, university) should be made as learning factories - the source of attaining skill based education. There should be the variation of learning in each wings of education at educational institutions like learning by doing (laboratories, workshops), learning from attachment/placement (field trip), theoretical learning (classroom) so that process of learning become comfortable and enjoyable to students. Moreover, this will help students to attain skill based education that will pave the way for getting jobs even they leave education at any tier. The above mentioned policy of education may compel young students to concentrate more on learning as well as develop them as skilled workforces rather protecting them to deviate from right track in life.

The writer is working for primary education sector in Bangladesh.