Sports, skills training to shape future workforce
The government plans to make sports compulsory from Class Four and technical education from Class Six from the next academic year, aiming to build a skilled and self-reliant youth workforce.
The government is putting youth skills, employment and sports at the centre of its development agenda, with plans to make sports and technical education compulsory for students from the next academic year.
State Minister for Youth and Sports Md. Aminul Haque announced the plans while addressing a shadow parliament organised by Debate for Democracy at the FDC on Friday, marking International Youth Day.
“Sports will be made compulsory from Class Four and technical education from Class Six from the next academic year,” he said.
The state minister said the government was also taking steps to ensure that young people who complete degrees do not remain unemployed at home, with opportunities for technical education and skills development being expanded to help them become self-reliant.
He said the government was committed to a zero-tolerance policy against corruption, arguing that corruption had previously created opportunities for siphoning money out of Bangladesh in the name of increasing efficiency.
The previous government had also “killed democracy by strangling it”, he said, adding that the current government would not repeat those mistakes.
Haque said the government’s focus was not on revenge but on creating a proper and transparent political environment where the youth could become empowered.
“Sports have no alternative to freeing the young generation from drug addiction,” he said, adding that employment opportunities for young people would help reduce social crime.
The government has started work to establish sports as a profession, he said, while plans are in place to create sports grounds wherever vacant land is available.
He also highlighted the government’s new multipurpose sports programmes, mini-stadium construction, sports allowances, creation and modernisation of playing fields, and other initiatives for young people.
The state minister said the government was also taking initiatives to develop a trained workforce according to demand at home and abroad.
He said previous administrations had failed to develop skilled manpower according to labour-market demand, instead building an education system heavily dependent on certificates.
Thousands of graduates entered the workforce every year without the skills required by employers, resulting in a steady rise in the number of educated unemployed people, he said.
The government is now placing greater emphasis on job-oriented education and taking initiatives to develop trained manpower based on domestic and international demand, Haque said.
He also linked youth unemployment and frustration with drug addiction, saying young people account for 80 percent of the country’s total drug addicts.
He said the lack of job-oriented education, sports and cultural activities in the past had contributed to young people’s vulnerability to substances including cannabis, yaba, phensedyl and heroin.
The state minister said the government’s efforts to expand sports opportunities and skills development would help build a healthy and productive generation.
“Sports have no alternative to freeing the young generation from drug addiction,” he said.
The remarks came at a shadow parliament debate titled “Private sector involvement is more important than the government in developing skilled manpower”, organised by Debate for Democracy.
Debaters from Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University defeated their counterparts from Eastern University to emerge champions.
Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran chaired the event.
Kiran said young people’s lives may differ across different parts of the world, but their aspirations are broadly similar. They want quality education, decent work, dignified lives, freedom of expression, security and a sustainable future.
He said previous governments had failed to produce skilled manpower according to labour-market demand, leaving increasing numbers of educated young people unemployed.
“The government is giving importance to job-oriented education,” Kiran said, adding that greater coordination between education and labour-market needs was necessary.
He also said frustration caused by unemployment could push young people towards drugs, while cultural activities and sports could help them remain engaged in productive pursuits.
Judges at the debate included Professor Abu Muhammad Rais, Dr Sheikh Mohammad Jobayed Hossain, Dr SM Morshed, CARE Bangladesh Director Rewan Jahan and SOS Children’s Villages Bangladesh Deputy National Director Md Masud Rana.
CARE Bangladesh and SOS Children’s Villages Bangladesh supported the event.
At the end of the competition, trophies, crests and certificates were presented to the participating teams.
