Youth involvement is a must to achieve SDGs

Unemployment has increased largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing uncertainty to many people’s lives. The main goal of the coming budget should be to create jobs for the unemployed. especially for the youth. The country needs a definite goal in creating employment and definite targets for the number of new jobs to be created through the public sector, private sector, entrepreneurship and remittance. The country's economy is recovering from losses incurred due to the pandemic, but from the start of 2022, the economic recovery suffered a major setback due to various issues.

These issues included rising prices of various commodities and raw materials, rising freight costs and transportation costs due to the Ukraine-Russia war and global instability. The coming budget needs to look at reducing inflation as the prices of commodities continue to rise, purchasing power of the people has decreased and savings have been limited. During the pandemic, the government announced various stimulus packages which are being given through various ministries. These incentive packages need to be coordinated and a list needs to be prepared.

Youth is a time of courage, struggle and creativity. It is the religion of youth to break the old and reform, to do something new. The young must come forward with courage and honesty in the reform work of the society. Young people will start a revolution to change at all levels of society and in this case, the combined efforts of young people are the most effective. If they see any irregularities or corruption in society, they have to protest in unison and if the protest comes from the youth then no one can stop it.

A large part of the country's population is young. If we want to think about the future of Bangladesh with different socio-economic diversity, we have to think about the youth. Young people will lead global development programmes. According to the Bureau of Statistics, the age of the youth is 15 to 29 years. In the youth policy of the government, this limit is 18 to 35 years. If the age limit is considered as a youth for 29 years, then about 40 percent of the people in the country are below it.

The effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have hit young people hard. Its level is even higher for marginalised and disadvantaged youth. It is time to consider whether adverse effects on education, employment and mental health and technological inequalities are leading to segregation among young people. It remains to be seen whether many young people are moving away from the mainstream of society. This condition of the youth is creating various inconsistencies. For this reason, considering the socio-economic context of Bangladesh, it is necessary to analyze the isolation of the youth more deeply.

The youth of our country has achieved a lot. Young people are advancing in sports, art, literature and culture. The young society is moving forward in different ways using different stimuli and possibilities. However, it is not clear whether the energy of a significant part of the youth is being used properly for the country and the nation, so we have to think about it. They have to voluntarily lead the mainstream. Today's young society is the policymaker of the future. If they protest against irregularities and corruption, society will gradually begin to change. Therefore, the participation of the youth is necessary for all the welfare activities of the state and society. If the young society is asleep, the shadow of a black cloud will never move from the sky of the society immersed in irregularities and corruption. To change society, the young society has to come out of self-centered thinking.

Besides building a career, one has to think about the country and society, about social welfare. Youth is the source of infinite vitality. That is why it is necessary to make life dynamic and promising by utilizing the youth. To create something new by reforming the dilapidated social system, the young society must first wake up. We have to stand up against corruption. Only then is it possible to eradicate corruption at all levels of society? Only the power of youth can take society forward on the path of prosperity.

The role of the youth in all the reform movements including the anti-British movement, language movement, mass uprising of 1969 and liberation war of Bangladesh was undoubtedly commendable. Our future is much more promising. So the young society has to take on some challenges in building an ideal society. We have to dream about the social state and walk the path of dreams by overcoming all obstacles with courage accordingly. Proper preparation must be taken and proper preparation of the young society will lead not only itself but also the society, the state on the path of unique success. A large part of the total population of the country is young. This young society is now a fancy force for solving our social problems.

Through competent leadership and hard work, the youth must come forward to build a happy and prosperous society and continue the trend of the progress of the country. A young society is like the bright sun hiding behind the black clouds. Some dishonest, corrupt people in the society try to use the young society for various criminal, anti-social activities in a planned way for personal gain.

Nevertheless, despite these adversities, various social voluntary organizations are being formed in the joint efforts of the youth of the country with the help of some important persons of the society, patriotic politicians and some social workers. These voluntary organizations are working selflessly for society. They are working as volunteers to make various government initiatives successful in critical moments in the country. In addition, the youth are conducting various public welfare activities, including post-disaster rescue work and raising funds to provide financial assistance to the victims and survivors. Bangladesh is moving forward on the path of prosperity with the help of its youth.

Bangladesh is moving forward on the path of prosperity with the help of its youth. Bangladesh is the dream of the young generation. Bangladesh is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and becoming a developed country by 2041. That is why the present government is taking significant steps to ensure suitable jobs for the youth by creating various employment opportunities through wages-earning and self-employment.

We need to look at employment. It is the responsibility of all of us to educate the future generation of the country properly. Just as teachers have a responsibility for quality education, so do parents and civil society. The government party, the opposition party, civil society and everyone in the society have the responsibility to create employment. Job creation is a big challenge; To take the country forward by keeping the country’s education system free from corruption and corruption. It is not possible to get a job by bypassing.

We need to look at employment. It is the responsibility of all of us to educate the future generation of the country properly without destroying it. As teachers have a responsibility for quality education, so do parents and civil society. Everyone in the society including the government party, opposition party and civil society has the responsibility to create employment. Job creation is a big challenge; To take the country forward by keeping the country’s education system free from corruption and corruption. It is not possible to get a job by bypassing. No work is being done even with a big degree. The number of educated unemployed is increasing in the country as the education system is not in line with the market demand.

Our education system is not able to meet the demand for skilled and educationally qualified workers in the labour market. Due to the lack of special skills in education in the universities of Bangladesh, the young people are not able to meet the demand of the job market. Only 19 per cent of college graduates are employed full-time or part-time, with about half unemployed. In addition, female graduates are more likely to be unemployed and out of school two years after graduation: 43% of female university graduates are unemployed, compared to 37% of male graduates.

But our policy lacks recognition of youth unemployment as one of the major problems for the economy. Many feel that the National Youth Policy 2018 has not paid enough attention to job creation for the youth. There is no specific action plan in the policy to create employment for the youth. However, as the private sector’s contribution to the economy is high, the private sector should be the main source of employment. The government needs to provide policy support to create more jobs there.

Strict quality control in education is required to overcome this situation. For this, the approval structure, supervision and quality control of private universities have to be done properly. To create a higher education curriculum, the curriculum needs to be updated according to market demand. Coordination between legislators, employers and university authorities is needed. The government has to take up some necessary plans.

Not only sound education but his alertness and dedication too are most required. We want to see education as a profession, we don't want to see the curse of unemployment, we don't want to see young people frustrated, we want to see them as entrepreneurs. It is very important to create employment for the youth. For this, a special allocation should be made in the next budget for job creation. But budgets can be used in many ways as an effective way to create jobs. Investment in infrastructure projects, road widening and others. Creates jobs for different departments of the workforce. There should be a picture of the number of jobs, their types and in which sector jobs will be created.

Although skills development training has increased in recent years, there is a huge shortage of skills in the job market. Many private-sector workers have been laid off. Lack of knowledge about information technology, especially among the youth of disadvantaged families, shows the lack of technical knowledge required for employment, which is pushing them further behind. We should focus on the above to bring the youth into the mainstream to build a progressive and prosperous society.

* Hiren Pandit is a columnist and researcher