We wholeheartedly agree with President Mohammed Shahabuddin when he asked Bangladesh's universities to focus more on job-oriented education and research to cater to the needs of the employment market.
Despite our stellar progress as a nation, we have the extremely ambitious task of becoming not just a middle income economy this decade and fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, we also intend to become a high-income and prosperous nation by 2041 -- Smart Bangladesh.
As such, with Bangladesh enjoying a period of demographic dividend, and with the job market changing before our very eyes at an unprecedented pace as a result of automation and AI, it is our education system -- long been rightfully criticized for not keeping up with the times -- that must equip today's students and tomorrow's leaders with the right skillset to navigate Bangladesh's future.
As outlined by President Shahabuddin, universities must do more to encourage the students to take up research. In fact, if we are to build a knowledge-based economy that is honed by innovation, then encouraging students to take more risks and step out of their comfort zones has to be practiced.
While we have started seeing widespread changes being implemented in schools, the same cannot be said of our tertiary education. Nevertheless, it would also not be wise to simply rush into changes without having concrete plans. Understanding the needs of the job market -- not just local but global -- and preparing our students accordingly is the best chance we have of utilizing our demographic dividend.
With technology becoming more and more prevalent, we hope the appropriate stakeholders are paying attention to ensure our education is not one for the past or even the present, but for the future. It is the only way we can ensure that we are successful in achieving all of our goals.