In Bangladesh, the issue of unemployment remains something of a ticking time bomb, especially unemployment among the educated youth.
Indeed, while the economy has been recovering from its recent downturn, it is unfortunate to see the job market continue to stagnate, and recent statistics from Unesco reveal that more and more of our young men and women are opting for their higher studies abroad.
Lest we forget, one of the core tenets of the July Revolution was to create a Bangladesh where youths would not need to seek out a life abroad, but that seems far from probably given the current realities.
Over the past 15 years, the number of Bangladeshi students going abroad to pursue their higher education has tripled, with the primary goal being to leave their own nation due to a number of factors such as university graduates' persistent struggle to enter the job market, a great mismatch in the kind of skills required by the job market, and archaic work cultures which limit employees’ agency and even leave them vulnerable to exploitation.
Furthermore, our education system, still rooted in outdated models, prioritizes degrees over skills, theory over practice, and rote learning over problem-solving. Meanwhile, businesses complain that fresh graduates lack technical expertise, critical thinking, and adaptability.
This results in a growing pool of frustrated, unemployed youth, many of whom see migration as their only escape.
At the root of the problem has always been our broken education system. While this is an issue that will require time on the part of the government, in the here and now, our educational institutes must work with industry leaders to create the sort of workers that the job market needs.
A focus on vocational programs has always been considered one component of this, and it is disheartening to see successive governments consistently fail to realize this.
Bangladesh cannot afford to keep losing its youth to unemployment or emigration. The solution lies in realigning education with economic needs, not just producing graduates, but producing employable, innovative, and adaptable talent. This requires bold reforms, stronger industry partnerships, and a cultural shift away from chasing degrees to building careers.