Trump Should Not Be Given More Four Years
I used to watch with much interest the debates of Presidential candidates of USA. I watched every episode of the debates of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, when they were debating with other candidates and I was sure that they will win the race and exactly that happened.
I also watched the debate of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and the performance of Donald Trump was so disappointing that it became clear that Hillary was going to become the next President. But what a disappointing surprise! Trump came trumpeting in and made everything upside down.
I am feeling sorry for the people of America, how could they make such a blunder? We see turmoil in every sector; it seems President Trump thinks only of himself, nothing else matters. I hope in the next election they will not make the same mistake, should bring to power the person who will be able to bring back the lost glory and the black chapter of Trump regime will be erased.
Nur Jahan
Chattogram
Vietnam Surpassed Bangladesh
Vietnam surpassed Bangladesh and became the second-largest exporter of apparel in the fiscal year 2019-2020. According to data from the Vietnam General Statistics Office, Vietnam received $13.18 billion from exporting textiles during the period January-June 2020. On the other hand, Bangladesh earned $11.92 billion from exporting ready-made garment (RMG) items during the same time, said data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Since RMG contributes about 84% to Bangladesh’s export earnings, I think this is a big blow for the Bangladesh RMG industry.
But what caused this? What led to this downfall of the RMG industry? Covid-19 reduced our production rate, that’s a reason, but it is not the only reason. Vietnam has diversified products within the apparel sector, and they export textiles too. On the other hand, Bangladesh recently entered into the medical clothing sector. Vietnam has an efficient supply chain and educated workers, and its factories are technologically advanced. On the other hand, Bangladesh’s factories are not that technologically advanced. Depreciation of taka is also crucial for export; Bangladesh keeps its currency high while Vietnam’s currency is depreciated if it needs. The low-cost workers were always Bangladesh’s competitive edge over other countries, but in this technological era, the production cost can be reduced through automation. So the RMG industry needs to rethink their value of proposition, and policymakers need to rethink. Otherwise, we will lose our competitiveness in the international market.
A.T.M Amin
East West University
Juvenile Delinquency
In recent times, there have been several incidents of juvenile delinquency in different parts of the country. Many of the street children and adolescents are involved in juvenile delinquency. Besides, many children of rich families are also being involved in various crimes. They are involved in misbehavior with adults, fights with classmates or friends, obscenity, eve-teasing, as well as all the heinous crimes such as snatching, murder and rape. In addition to drug use, the involvement of teenagers in the drug dealings is increasing.
Laws now alone can’t eradicate juvenile delinquency. In addition to government initiatives, the combined active role of teachers, responsible individuals in society and the media is essential. It is important to ensure the permanent rehabilitation of street children and adolescents. Along with the constant supervision of the parents, the path of moral and intellectual development in the adolescents should be inspired.
Abu Faruk
Sadar, Bandarban
A Letter To Our Conscience
Worldwide, school closures during the pandemic have already caused 743 million girls to miss out on their educations, and 10 million more secondary school-aged girls are predicted to be out of school before it is over. On March 16, the government of Bangladesh has decided to keep all the educational institutions closed, aiming to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. There are around two lakh educational institutions across the country with more than four crore students. There is a growing trend of continuing ‘home schooling’ through distance education approach using the internet. But only 12% of households in the poorest countries have internet access at home, and access to mobile internet is 26% lower for women and girls than for their male peers. Any emergency situation, therefore, makes girls more vulnerable than boys.
Due to COVID-19, child marriage has risen because parents are feeling insecure to keep their girls confined at home and out of school for prolonged periods of time. Even when school reopens, they would have to make a hard choice about which child or children they can send back to school. As we know, girls in Bangladesh are still the first victims of the ‘school drop-out phenomenon’. And this, in turn, contributes toward child marriage with its consequential maladies like early pregnancy and its associated problems, loss of earning opportunities and societal contributions by women, etc. During this pandemic, girls are helping at home far more than boys in daily chores and house work. This has made it far more difficult for them to continue their study at home compared to their male counterparts.
Some of this is unwanted pregnancy of married girls who, under ‘normal’ circumstances, would have otherwise delayed their decision to start a family. Pregnancies will create a barrier for their further study when school will reopen. And in some communities, pregnant girls are not allowed back in schools. On top of this, girls are the first to be pulled out of school, put to work and care for younger siblings when families face economic hardship. Girls are specially disadvantaged, both now, with prolonged school closures and less opportunity to continue home schooling, and later with a far greater threat of discontinued schooling for them as a consequence, even when the institutions reopen.
In order to reduce girls’ drop out and increase their participation, it is important to identify the areas and the factors that need to be developed when school will reopen. Necessary policy recommendations by expertise will be needed. Launching awareness campaigns may encourage families to continue supporting girls’ education. And this we can do here and now, with not a moment lost any more! We can do it. Let us wake up.
Tashlima Akter
Alumni, Teach for Bangladesh
Department of Sociology, Dhaka University
