Thousands of children walking on their way to school in the morning with their bags on their shoulders, excited faces in front of TV cameras on year-end results day, and again a few years later that same face – no longer a teenager, but a young man – standing in line with a job application in hand, tired eyes, a pressing question in his chest – I’ve read so much, yet why hasn’t anything happened?
This is the most urgent question in Bangladesh today. We have made great progress on paper and in writing—almost everyone is enrolled in school, the pass rate is increasing year by year, and the number of universities is also multiplying. But behind this success lies a silent truth. Despite good results, many students cannot properly understand a text appropriate for their age, and struggle to do a simple math. Educationists call this ‘poverty of learning’—meaning they have certificates, but no real learning. Our education system has its roots in the very old, colonial-era test-based structure that was created to select people, not to build them. Even after independence, instead of breaking that structure and building something new, we have only made it bigger, because it is easy to show ‘development’ with a number—a pass rate or a GPA of 5. But the more the number increases, the deeper the question becomes—are we really learning, or are we just memorizing the test pattern? A parallel world of coaching centers and guidebooks has emerged, where if you have money, you can buy good results, if you don’t, you have to fall behind. The education that was once supposed to give people equal opportunities is now creating new inequalities.
But we often don’t hear the most important voice in this discussion, which is the voice of the young people themselves. What they want, how they want to go about their own education – these questions rarely reach the policymakers’ tables. Yet for the generation that can take to the streets and change a nation, education is no longer just about fulfilling the dreams of their parents. They have learned to ask – Why is what I have studied for so many years irrelevant to real life? Why is my talent measured only in a test book?
The most powerful thought in a young person’s mind today is that education should not just make him a good test taker but a capable human being. If this desire is ignored, no matter how much the education system is reformed, it will remain the same for the young person, and will not feel like his own. Therefore, any real change should begin by giving space to the young person’s own thoughts. By listening to him, giving importance to his questions, and by sitting him at the table of curriculum development.
Our education has shown us only one dream so far—do good results, get a good job. But in today’s reality, this dream is no longer viable. Every year, millions of young people enter the labor market, but the number of jobs is not increasing in proportion to that. Then the question must change—not just ‘how to get a job’, but ‘how to create jobs’.
Bangladesh stands at a rare moment in its history—the largest portion of the population is now of working age. This is called the demographic dividend. Taking advantage of this opportunity, countries like South Korea, China, and Vietnam have come a long way in a short time. But this opportunity does not automatically become a blessing. It only works when this huge young population has real skills and the economy creates space for them.
In our case, the opposite is happening. On the one hand, millions of young people are ready, on the other hand, they do not have marketable skills. As a result, jobs are left vacant, suitable people are not found—and thousands of certified young people are unemployed. The longer this gap exists, the more the demographic dividend will become a burden rather than a blessing. And there is a time limit to this opportunity—this window of opportunity will close in a few decades, when the population starts to age. The window that is open today will not remain open forever.
The most tragic reflection of this skill gap and unemployment is seen in the minds of the youth. After years of studying, bearing the family’s dreams and expenses, when a young person sees that his certificate does not give him any assurance, then a person breaks down inside. It is not just economic failure, it is a crisis of his own identity. When society measures a person’s value only by his job and income, and when that person is rejected repeatedly, then the dam of tolerance can one day break as disappointment builds up.
The most dangerous consequences of this widespread despair can be seen in the field of politics. For a young person whose path to a righteous life is blocked, becoming part of the party muscle, engaging in extortion or violence – often becomes the only realistic ‘income path’. This is not a new story. In the history of our student politics, hall occupation, tender bidding, extortion – these have long served as a kind of ‘informal employment’ for unemployed youth. It is also easy for political parties to organize these frustrated youth, because they have nothing to lose.
A dangerous cycle is born from this. Unemployment fuels violence, violence blocks investment and employment, and unemployment increases. This risk is even more relevant after the July Revolution – young people have changed the state in their own hands, a sense of authority has been born in their minds. But if this sense does not translate into real changes in life, then this same energy can turn from despair to new conflicts or extremism. As long as a young person finds it easier and more profitable to follow the wrong path than the right path, this cycle will be difficult to break. Education can change this equation only when it can truly provide the young person with alternative paths – jobs, opportunities to become an entrepreneur, social status.
There is a deeper aspect to this whole discussion, which cannot be captured by policy reforms alone. If we are stuck only in the equation of GPA 5 and skills, then the most important element of nation building is left out – moral education. A young person can be a skilled craftsman, a skilled engineer, but if he does not have honesty, fairness and responsibility towards society, then that skill is used not for the welfare of society, but for personal gain or corruption.
The corruption and institutional decay that we fight against every day is rooted in the moral vacuum of our education. The test-based system teaches how to pass, the competency-based system teaches how to work. But neither automatically teaches how to be honest, how to prevent the abuse of power. Until moral education is at the center of our curriculum, we will continue to produce a generation who may be skilled, but are incapable of carrying the moral burden of building a society.
The real solution lies in a simple truth. Without skill, there is no employment, and without honesty, that employment does not build a nation. A skilled but dishonest person builds a weak foundation, which one day collapses on people’s heads; an honest but unskilled person cannot meet the real needs of society. Therefore, our education must stand on two legs. On the one hand, real, marketable skills, which will give the youth the opportunity to make a living and the courage to stand on their own feet, whether it is a job or an initiative of their own; on the other hand, deep moral education, which will direct that skill in the right direction. Skill will build our future economy, honesty will build a society worthy of living in that economy. If these two lamps do not burn together, the darkness will not be lifted. And the dream of nation-building will also remain incomplete.
