Youth want reforms in education-health, concerned over ‘mob’, law and order

A significant portion of the country’s youth have expressed deep concern over the prevailing law and order situation and mob violence, while calling for reforms in key sectors such as education, healthcare, and the labour market.

They also emphasised the need for affordable, modern education and accessible health services.

This sentiment of the youth has emerged in a survey conducted by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and ActionAid.

Findings of this survey, related to the thoughts of youth on employment, education, and the political situation following the July uprising, was presented on Monday.

In the survey, youth were asked a question: “The following socioeconomic conditions are disrupting daily life—do you agree?” In response, 80 per cent of young respondents agreed in the case of concerns about repeated arson, robbery (mugging), and theft. Less than 8 per cent disagreed. The rest had no opinion.

About 72 per cent of respondents expressed concern over “mobs.” More than 61 per cent of respondents agreed that public spaces are unsafe (especially for women) while  16 per cent disagreed on this issue. As many as 56 per cent of youth expressed concern over unjust and politically biased arrests and judicial processes while 15 per cent disagreed on this question.

The survey revealed that after the July mass uprising, 78 per cent of youth had specific personal expectations. Nearly 73 per cent of youth expected a modern education system within affordability; 67 per cent of youth hoped for advanced and easily accessible healthcare within reach.

Next was the eradication of political corruption and nepotism, an expectation voiced by more than 65 per cent of youth. Other expectations among youth included a strong judicial system, safety in public and online spaces, a fair electoral process and representative politics, and a sound environment on campuses, and so on.

The survey was conducted on 2,000 youth (both male and female) aged 15 to 35 from all eight divisions of the country. Data for the survey was collected from 20 May to 31 May. Respondents were taken from both rural and urban areas.

Selim Raihan, executive director of SANEM and Professor of Economics at the University of Dhaka, told Prothom Alo, “We saw that youth are concerned about law and order and the mob situation. The interim government has not been very successful in controlling this.”

The survey asked youth about various topics such as employment, migration, politics, elections, the performance of the interim government and reforms.

In response, 56 per cent of youth mentioned that they were aware to various degrees about reforms while 44 per cent said they had no idea at all about the issue. Some 50 per cent or more of youth said they knew about reforms related to the election commission, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and police. In other cases, the rate was less than 50 per cent.

The least known was the White Paper Committee on economic affairs, with only 6.6 per cent having heard of it.

Regarding whether reform proposals would be implemented, less than half of youth showed more or less optimism. The rest were either not very hopeful or uncertain. Youth were also asked in which areas they want reforms on a priority basis.

The highest emphasis came on education as 94 per cent respondents wants priority in this sector, followed by healthcare – 92 per cent, labour market – 90 per cent, human rights (safety and freedom of expression) – 89 per cent and institutional reform – 85 per cent.

At the event, Selim Raihan said that an opportunity for reform has come. If we fail to take advantage of this, we won’t be able to bring about major changes. The expectations of the July mass uprising will not be realised.

In the survey, youth were asked how the government is performing in 13 different areas.

Findings showed that in three areas, 50 per cent or more youth mentioned the government as successful. Those areas are: protecting freedom of expression – 56 per cent, maintaining social harmony – 53 per cent, and bringing stability to the economy – 51 per cent.

A larger number of youth identified the government as failing in controlling political violence (40 per cent), ensuring women’s safety (39 per cent), and creating employment opportunities (38 per cent), controlling corruption in the health sector (38 per cent), and maintaining law and order (35 per cent).

However, a large portion of respondents had no opinion on the questions of success or failure.

Less than 40 per cent of respondents marked the government as successful in sectors like the investment climate, transparency and accountability in bureaucracy, inclusion of marginalised groups and democratic institutions.

In response to a question in the survey, 77 per cent of youth said they would vote in the upcoming election.

Regarding whether the next election will be free and fair, the degree of optimism varied.

A total of 41 per cent were moderately optimistic, 28 per cent were very optimistic, 12 per cent were fully optimistic 13 per cent were somewhat optimistic and 6 per cent were not at all optimistic.

In response of the question as to which party would get what percentage of votes, 38.76 per cent responded in favor of BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party), 21.45 per cent for Jamaat-e-Islami, 15.84 backed National Citizen Party (NCP), 15.84 per cent said currently banned Awami League (if allowed to contest), 4.59 said other Islamic parties outside of Jamaat, and 3.77 favoured Jatiya Party.

Selim Raihan said these opinions reflect only the views of the selected youth surveyed. These should not be considered as representing the views of the entire population or people of other age groups. Especially in sensitive matters like politics, it would be inappropriate to do so.

According to the survey data, 87.4 per cent of youth receive political information from social media, 48 from television, 37 per cent from friends, 13 per cent from newspapers, and others get information from different other sources.

At the survey report publication event held at BRAC Center Inn, Mohakhali, the findings were presented by Safa Tasnim, research associate of SANEM.

Muhammad Muniruzzaman Bhuiyan, joint secretary of the Technical and Madrasah Education Division, Ministry of Education, and Mohammad Kuddus Ali Sarkar, joint secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, also spoke at the event.

In the survey, 83 per cent of youth said they were not interested in joining politics. The three main reasons behind their lack of interest are political violence, corruption, lack of ethics in politics, and discouragement from family and society.

In terms of career, youth showed greater interest in government jobs.

At the event, Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said that much depends on whether the youth who join politics are motivated by the hope of benefits or by ideals and a genuine desire for change.

She further said that youth have always led mass uprisings, but when it comes to policymaking, these youth are no longer present.