Syed Shemul Parvez :
A large portion of the highly educated youths in Bangladesh are now unemployed. They are waiting for a job year after year after finishing their studies. The recent announcement by a youth ‘tuition for food’ has come to the spotlight as an example of how the Corona epidemic could create a crisis in the employment situation.
The frustration of unemployment and the severity of the crisis now came from the experience of another highly educated young woman. The woman with a master’s degree in English, on condition of anonymity, said she has already reached 28 years old to finish her studies. And she was able to apply for a BCS and about 20 government jobs within the age of 30. But in the midst of the epidemic, job tests stopped and she was worried about her life. When the situation became somewhat normal, the date of written test for 5 jobs was fixed on the same day, but she took part in only two tests.
Besides, there are allegations of question paper leak of a couple of exams. She also tried to commit suicide due to the frustration of unemployment.
She said, “Due to age constraints, I can’t live with the hope that I will have a job in future! “For various reasons, finally I tried to commit suicide out of frustration. In fact, I am very depressed. I am now taking medication in consultation with a doctor.” This young woman is still waiting for a job. Asked why the other profession is not chosen, she said, “It takes a mental preparation and financial support.”
“I went to the Department of Youth Development. They will pay around taka sixty thousand, but the necessary papers or formalities required to withdraw that money are not supporting me. It will require land deeds, but I am not yet the owner of the property. I am not married. My all source has been closed, she added.
“It is estimated that more than 2 million people enter the labor market in the country every year. Where only 5 per cent of employment is in the public sector and 95 per cent in private sources.
But after completing higher education, most of them are now waiting for government jobs year after year. Multiple BCS and government job exams create frustration among many youths because there are no job opportunities compared to the amount of job prospects.
However, young people admit that waiting for a job year after year loses their productivity and creativity.
Hafiza Khanam, a graduate of Dhaka University, said, “You have to try until you get a job. Besides, BCS is a matter of long procrastination. It takes three and a half years to complete just a BCS.
Another job seeker, Sharmin Akhter, said, “Most of the youths are so frustrated that they no longer have the strength to try anything else.
Abu Saeed said, “Our social structure is such that we are compelled to run after the government jobs. We are running toward one direction pretending not to understand.
In this regard, Hafiza said, those who graduate from public universities, have generally attempts to prioritize social and family needs over personal in case of government jobs. However, there is a question as to why the mentality of wasting a lot of time should be done for the sake of education and public jobs, instead of getting involved in small jobs or choosing the path of self-employment.
When asked over the issue of higher education, Dr Hafiz Uddin Buiyan, Professor of Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka , told The New Nation that the planning of government on Higher Education is not proper step.
Actually, Higher Education should not be allowed for the all type of people in the country. But very pathetic matter is that government is going to build public university in almost every district every year. It’s not good sign of quality education. Rather government should emphases over the technical and skilled based education like Diploma and nursing education. Because it has better job field across the world markets, Dr Hafiz added.
