An incongruity between the country’s education system and job market demands lead to a higher unemployment rate, speakers told a seminar in Dhaka yesterday.
They observed that every year a great many new graduates add to the existing number of unemployed youths.
The observation came at a workshop titled “Opportunity out of Crisis” jointly organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and MIL-Leadership in International Management.
The objective of the workshop is to address the current business crisis and bring out the best opportunities from it.
“The number of unemployed graduates is increasing day by day in Bangladesh because of the country’s education system that is incongruous in the job market setting,” said Hossain Khaled, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
In Bangladesh, every year almost half the total number of graduates enters the job market, but they hardly get jobs akin to their field of study while the rest stay unemployed, added Khaled.
Currently, 47% graduates in Bangladesh are unemployed according to a special report of world-renowned British magazine, The Economist.
“Employers struggle to find suitable university graduates, while university graduates don’t pair with skills in demand,” said Ahmed Sheikh Asif, country director of LIM-Leadership in International Management, in his keynote presentation.
There is a teaching or learning gap and the curriculum is inadequate or a mismatch for the workplace, said Ashif.
He also said applicants have low skills in English literacy, computers, communications, problem solving and entrepreneurship.
The goal is to introduce unique models for education and awareness to increase student exposure to employment and increase employability to work with the government and industry to create jobs in focused segments, he added.
The trade consultant suggested some development areas including ICT, alternate energy, hydroelectricity, road and rail infrastructure, tourism, manufacturing and low-cost housing.
Referring to political violence, Khaled said: “Bangladesh has great potential to bounce back, but the key challenges to accelerating growth are maintaining political stability and resolving the remaining uncertainties.”
To bring back business confidence, political stability is essential for enhancing growth and creation of employment, he said, adding that Bangladesh will of course require removal of obstacles such as infrastructural bottlenecks, institutional weakness and political instability.
LIM LLC is working to create compatibility between education and employment and develop entrepreneurs, identify the missing skills and knowledge among employees and facilitate new modules for focusing on industry segments.
