55pc youth want to go abroad due to unemployment, corruption, discrimination

Some 42 per cent of the youth are concerned over the prevailing unemployment situation in Bangladesh. They say the main reasons behind unemployment are corruption, nepotism, discrimination in recruitment and imbalance between work and family life. As a result, some 55 per cent of the youth want to go abroad.

This came up in a study conducted at the initiative of the British Council titled ‘Next Generation Bangladesh 2024’. The study was released in an event at the British Council auditorium in the capital’s Fuller Road on Wednesday.

The British Council also published two other studies under the same title in 2010 and 2015. The study this time was conducted in November and December last year right before the 12th national parliamentary elections.

The report was published on the basis of interviews of some 3,081 people aged between 18 to 35 years. M&C Saatchi World Services’ evaluation and learning department senior researcher Aibek Iliasov presented the report at the programme.

Some 60 per cent of the youth, during the survey in 2015, said they believed that the country was on the right track. It declined to 51 per cent by 2023. However, the researcher could not confirm how much of the youth wanted to go abroad in 2015.

Some 37 per cent of the participants said the main reasons behind unemployment were corruption and nepotism while 18 per cent said the imbalance between work and family life is the main reason and 20 per cent said discrimination in recruitment. Meanwhile, 44 per cent of the youth wants to start business within next year.

The survey showed some 72 per cent of the youth wanted to vote in the 12th parliamentary elections held on 7 January. However, 65 per cent of them considered themselves disengaged. The Awami League formed the government for the fourth consecutive time after winning that one-sided election. However, the government was toppled by the students and people in a mass uprising.

The report further said some 66 per cent of the youth in Bangladesh used the internet. Some 77 per cent of the male and 56 per cent of the female use the internet on a regular basis. Some 27 per cent of the women are victims of family violence. Some 30 per cent of the youth believe that women are not equal to men. Some 25 per cent of the youth think women should not enjoy as much freedom as men outside home.

Meanwhile, education is at the top of the list of sectors where the youth wants to see some progress. Some 49 per cent of the youth cited poor teaching quality. Especially they mentioned the national curriculum which is quite irrelevant to the modern job market.

British High Commissioner in Dhaka Sarah Cook said, “The UK government is committed to support the interim government and the people of Bangladesh to build an all-inclusive, prosperous and democratic future.”

Lamiya Morshed, the principal coordinator for sustainable development goals (SDGs) affairs at the office of the chief adviser, “The government is working centering the desire of the youth. The basic works of the government will be protecting human rights, legislation of non-discriminatory laws and enacting policies in the interest of public welfare.”

Helen Silvester, regional director of British Council in South Asia and British Council country director Steven Forbes also addressed the event. A discussion on ‘Skills for the future’ was also held in a segment of the event.