With the new development paradigm developed by economists in recent years, economic development means economic growth alongside social justice, good governance and a declining trend of income inequalities among citizens. According to the concept, development has to be inclusive and all citizens from every segment of society have to be engaged in the development process.
Bangladesh being a highly populous country with a density of 2,600 people per square mile and nearly 23.5 per cent of people wriggling below the poverty line, the need for enhancing the capital resources of a growing work force is being felt more intensely than ever. Against the backdrop of fast changing technology, human resource -- a prerequisite for development, has to be transformed into human capital to meet the challenges and intricacies of development.
Knowledge and efficiency of people can be augmented through education and training and therefore, a consistent and well planned integration of education and training is essential. If our manpower is converted into resources through education and training, our GDP would be much higher. We often cite examples of Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia as role models of development but it should not be forgotten that these countries prioritised education with emphasis on science and technology.
Bangladesh has a mission to reach high middle income status by 2021 and attain sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030 and to do so the rate of growth and development will have to be augmented. This will require an educated, trained, efficient and committed work force along with high budgetary allocation on education. Attention should be given to issues of health and nutrition which were not been given due importance in government programmes and NGO activities. Special programmes aimed at providing employment for the physically handicapped should also be undertaken. In order to make women educated and competent, social security net should be expanded and this will help reduce poverty at a faster rate. All these activities require that human capital is enriched through continuous education and training. Manpower endowed with human capital is also essential for good governance.
According to a research report of BIDS, Bangladesh would need 3.6 million skilled manpower in readymade garments sector by 2020-21 and by the financial year 2025-26 training would be required for another 2.14 million workers. The report said, India and Sri Lanka have already taken adequate steps aimed at skill development of their workers. In 2011, Bangladesh also adopted a policy of skill development of the workers, but the issue of skill development in the garments sector was not given due importance and ample emphasis was not given on it in our five year plans also.
Natural resources have a role in the initial stages of development where growth may be achieved with low human capital and poor governance, but it should be followed by sustainable development which is largely dependent on the quality of human capital of a country.
The country attained magic figures of 7.0 per cent GDP growth in the 2015-16 fiscal and moved to Lower Middle-Income Country. The target now is graduation to middle income country by 2021.
In a recently published ILO report, it was stated that around 40 per cent of the young people aged between 15 and 24 years in Bangladesh are neither in education nor in employment or training. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) estimation, the figure would be 11.6 million out of a total of 29 million youths of the same age group in the country.
It is clear that development is irrevocably linked with social upgrading of the population. In this way we shall be able to earn demographic dividends by creating more employment opportunities for the huge number of youth population. This can only be done through enriching human capital.
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