Preparing workforce for future jobs

Let me start by saying that we have both challenges to tackle and opportunities to make use of at this present moment. Over time quite a lot of positive changes can be observed in the context of skill component. For example, in 2005 there were as high as 59% low skilled work force (with 36% mid skilled and only 5.2% high skilled), which has come down to 44% in 2016/17 (with 48% mid skilled and 9% high skilled).

Besides, in 2005 there were more than 40 of the work force without any education, which has fall down to around 30% in 2016/17 with positive changes in the proportion of labour force with tertiary education. However, a large portion of our workforce is still uneducated and low-skilled. Even though some of the employees have reached certain level that I would like to refer to as "mid-skilled," there is quite a few who can be stated as high-skilled. In terms of the rate of growth of the education and skill level of our workforce, we need to have a better quality work force.

Next, let us talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Due to the pandemic we now have lesser time to prepare ourselves for such technological advancement. A very small percentage of our labor force actually possesses the knowledge for the components directly related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as, robotics, advanced technologies and engineering skills. Therefore, there is an immediate need for a huge investment in this sector, so that more of our employees can learn these specialized skills. We need to realize that this is not possible in just one day. It would take quite a lot of time even if an investment is made.

Thirdly, we need to focus on what kind of modern skills are currently in demand as of today. Skills like cloud computing, coding and software and data analysis are in high demand globally nowadays. In order to keep up with the competitive global market, another significant investment is required to ensure that more of our population can learn these skills. Analytical skills as such required quality education system. Taking a deeper look at this, we can see there is a huge rural-urban and income based divides in terms of the segments of population that can actually afford these skills. The pandemic has only worsened these divisions. We must deal with such digital divisions, otherwise it will be challenging to deal with future challenges.

Fourthly, quite a large number of foreign workers are working in Bangladesh and the trend is increasing. This can be linked to certain weaknesses of our work force in terms of analytical, communicative, interpersonal and lingual skills. According to the World Bank's enterprise surveys, there is lack of workforce specializing in management skills. Even without considering the effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we have been lacking in the development of skills like analytics and language. The reason for the underdevelopment in management skills in Bangladesh can also be linked to the concept of educated unemployment. Educated unemployment in Bangladesh keeps on increasing because we often do not take into account the quality of our tertiary education as the quality differs across educational institutes.

Looking back further, our primary education is underdeveloped as well. Primary education focuses on building lingual and communicative skills of students, and underdevelopment in this basic education results in an overall lack of soft and analytical skills for the students. Besides primary education system that lacks creativity also affects the quality of human capital development and there is also the matter of our domestic industrial demands. Our education system hardly provides the skills that out industries require. In other words, the supplies do not satisfy the demands, therefore creating a gap between the two.

In order to bridge this gap, we must link the educational institutes with the industries at first. Initiative that the government can take include encouraging the private university leaders to sit in a conference with the executives of the industries and discuss the current skill requirement of the nation.

Once again, the question about the quality of our tertiary education rises. Even though the quality of education of our private universities has been improving with time, public universities remain more or less the same, which makes the students unable to cope with changing skill requirements of our industries.

We must focus on developing the practical skills of our young students. To do this, we first need to get rid of the stereotype that forces every single student to complete their tertiary education and earn a degree. Just completing one's education and earning a degree is not enough. One must know how to use their knowledge in practical situations.

However, this is easier said than done as this stereotype has been around since the beginning of the Bengali culture. But this is not impossible. We need to make technical and practical education more attractive to students. Educational institutes can divide their student population in two groups- one group will carry out research and learn theories as usual while the other group will specifically train to join the labor force by learning practical skills. This way, our educational institutes will become sufficient in both theoretical and practical fields of learning.

In other words, we must divide the student population in different groups and ensure each group specializes in a different field of education. Universities throughout the country can also offer degrees on subjects like garments, which will attract students to study subjects involving manual labor.

Let me elaborate further. Consider the subject of economics. We need to make sure the students know what economics is all about. Additionally, they also need to utilize their knowledge. Thus, the university should teach the entirety of the subject in two different levels, the first level being the first two year and the second level being the latter two. The first level will focus on theoretical knowledge while the second, more complicated level will focus on applied economics.

Another step the universities can take is to offer courses that stand in between the fields of mainstream learning and vocational learning. These courses will offer knowledge that will help educate students as well as making them specialized in their respective fields of study. But we must not forget about teaching one of the most crucial skills required to work in industries- interpersonal skills.

The government can offer free training programs for students of public universities. The students may join Zoom meetings twice a week and meet face-to-face in practical classes once a month to develop their communication skills. The university executives may select which skills the students will learn. Speaking about expenses, these steps will almost cost you nothing if you think about it. Zoom meetings are practically free of charge. I think most teachers will not mind sharing their knowledge for free for only twice a week and once a month. Offering free training programs is especially necessary in public universities because public universities often include students from rural areas who may have poorly developed communication skills.

Thus, we need to teach our students specialized skills in order to prepare them for working in the industries. Furthermore, we must guarantee our students that the training programs they will be taking part in are updated and relevant to the requirements placed forward by our industries. Our trainers themselves must be prepared to teach students beforehand.

Additionally, we must get rid of the stigma surrounding technical education, something that can only be done if given enough time and effort. Technical education needs to be introduced alongside mainstream education. Wages offered to workers from technical education backgrounds need to be raised, in order to attract more people to study technical knowledge. The media can step in as well to promote the study of technical knowledge.

But this is not enough. We need to ensure there are sufficient job opportunities in the industries for our students once they have learned the skills. Otherwise, we will lose a large portion of our domestic workforce as a lot of them will travel abroad to look for work.

Now, you may argue that domestic workers leaving home to work abroad is beneficial to our economy, as they will send money from their workplaces. Yes, it is beneficial to us. But we must ensure that our workers who are going abroad are well-trained. In other words, we must arrange for different more advanced training programs for those willing to work abroad because the quality of our workers needs to be equal of or higher than the quality of their workers. This way, we will secure more future job opportunities for our workers of the next generation.

I am especially talking about jobs such as babysitting and caring for the elderly. Countries like Japan, one of the countries with the rising oldest populations in the world, have more need for babysitters and people who can care for their elderly people and Bangladesh can utilize this opportunity.

However, jobs related to care service are though in high demand in Bangladesh, we often do not treat these professions with due respect. The government can offer education and certificates to those willing to take on these jobs. If proper certificates are given out and if appropriate remuneration is there, it iwill help people to get out of the social stigma.  As a result, more people will be interested in taking part in such jobs, and a whole new daycare sector will open up abroad for our workers.

Another good opportunity is freelancing, something that can be done right here without leaving the country. Freelancing is slowly growing here, which is no doubt, a huge boon for our workforce. In addition, we need to improve the quality of our computer and IT training programs and well as that of electronic related training- professional electronic workers or even workers like plumbers are in high demand all around the globe.

To summarize, it is important to ensure that our student population receives appropriate education that prepares them for the growing demand. At the same time, we also need to create employment opportunities for the new entrants. Getting rid of educated unemployment goes a long way in making this country truly reach the standards of other developing countries. It goes without saying that only by preparing our young workforce can we hope to better meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Based on a conversation on phone between Prof Sayema Haque Bidisha and The Business Standard's Deputy Editor Titu Datta Gupta