The level of our education system seems directly proportional to the level of unemployment it generates. Compare the slightly over 4% overall unemployment in Bangladesh with nearly 10 times that rate within the university graduates.
Unemployment certainly seems to be a luxury for those who can afford it.
Over 2 million people enter the job market in Bangladesh every year. How many jobs do you think we create in the market?
According to the General Economics Division (GED) estimates, we created 9.5 million new jobs or about 74% of the 12.9 million target in the 7th Five-Year Plan period. The target for the 8th Five-Year Plan is even more ambitious, with the prospects for job creation far more challenging because of three major factors: Job growth slowing due to sluggish investment situation, the pandemic driving up youth unemployment, and digital transformation destroying certain categories of jobs.
A fourth and perhaps even more important factor for rising unemployment, especially among the graduates of tertiary education, is that what we teach is not what the market needs. We are still teaching for the pre-Google world where facts and figures need to be retained in the head. We are increasingly entering a paradigm where it’s all about problem solving and creativity, critical thinking, and analysis rather than the skill of rote memorization that we still espouse and celebrate in the examinations.
Even if we argue that most people ultimately get some sort of employment, it happens after the youth continue to be “the burden” of their families and society for many years and, ultimately, settle for gross underemployment -- which is over 19% in the country -- earning an income far below their educational level originally promised.
Given that the current public and private sectors will not be able to generate the number of gainful employment opportunities necessary to reap the demographic dividend we keep talking about, massive entrepreneurship seems the only logical choice. And yet, the higher we rise in educational attainment, the lower our entrepreneurial spirit becomes.
Two weeks ago, when I outlined in this column the five elements that will shape the future of education, and in turn, will determine the Bangladesh of 2041, I talked about instilling entrepreneurship through our education system. In fact, today we do the opposite by systematically snuffing out the “entrepreneurial spirit,” the curiosity, the risk-taking mentality of the child.
So, the level of our education system currently seems inversely proportional to the level of entrepreneurship it generates.
When I became a serial entrepreneur after my university years in the US, it was to the sheer shock and disappointment of my parents. That also tells us about the societal mentality towards entrepreneurship that prevails in our country.
What is the entrepreneurial spirit?
While the Cambridge Dictionary defines an entrepreneur as “someone who starts their own business, especially when this involves seeing a new opportunity” it is the latter part of the definition that I would like all of us to focus on, ie, “seeing a new opportunity.”
As children, this ability to seek new opportunities is in abundance, the minds curious and exploratory. While children may not be setting up businesses, they are exhibiting all the characteristics required: Being tenacious, curious, creative, daring, inspired, and innovative, with out-of-the-box thinking.
It is no surprise that the World Economic Forum, in its list of the top skills required for today and tomorrow’s workplaces, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving are among the core skills.
And yet, it seems that these are skills that our children naturally have, and unfortunately, as they grow older, and go through the various stages of education, gradually lose them. This is a problem and one we must address immediately. Unfortunately, our current education system, far from rectifying the issue, is only exacerbating it.
Creating opportunities
If Bangladesh is to achieve its audacious socio-economic goals of 2041, then it is not enough for our young learners to merely seek employment. They must create employment.
It is heartening to see growing entrepreneurship in the form of societal movements such as Chakri Korbo Na, Chakri Dibo (I won’t seek employment, but will create it) which has inspired hundreds of youths into the path of entrepreneurship. In addition, tens of thousands of digital centre entrepreneurs at the rural level, the emergence of over half a million internet freelancers, and the government’s first venture capital company -- Startup Bangladesh -- along with scores of new private angel and venture funds supporting over 2,000 start-ups tell us there is a zeal for entrepreneurship in the country.
However, this is a silent revolution despite our education system, not because of it.
This is what we need to change. And this is what we shall explore in the future.
Anir Chowdhury is a US tech entrepreneur turned Bangladeshi government entrepreneur serving as the Policy Advisor of a2i in ICT Division and Cabinet Division supported by UNDP.
