Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's call to the youth of Bangladesh to acquire appropriate and relevant skills for the 21st century following the publication of the results of the HSCs -- where around 95% of the total student populace has passed the exam -- is timely and appropriate, and tells us that Bangladesh has much to work on if it is to create the future it wishes to.
There is no doubt that, despite the soaring pass-rates, we see a discrepancy when it comes to the reconciliation between jobs and the number of graduates. There are so many unemployed graduates nowadays that the first thing people do when they get to university is study for various kinds of government jobs.
Not only is this unsustainable as there are not enough jobs to go around, but this is also a massive handicapping of the nation. Bangladesh is expanding its industries and areas of interest by leaps and bounds, and we are on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution. Alongside that, Bangladesh is also in the perfect position to enjoy the benefits of a demographic dividend.
But in order to make proper use of these opportunities, we need to have a skilled workforce. While our students need to be adept at traditional skills, they also need to acquire relevant computational and other skills. The world of the future will be the world of technology. And if we do not get moving, we will be lost through the cracks.
The students need to heed the PM’s words. Schools have to set up relevant courses and universities need to modernize the curricula to adapt to the changing times. We are on the verge of the biggest technological shift yet. Let’s make sure we can ride the wave.
