APJ Abdul Kalam's exhortation to the country's students to gather knowledge to unleash their latent talent and potentiality is indeed a well-timed piece of advice from a luminary. He hit the right chord by asking them to be good and competent citizens for building a prosperous Bangladesh. The former Indian president, who is a celebrated scientist, reminded them that theirs "are the dreams and thoughts of Bangladesh". He advised them to dream and generate thoughts to fulfil those. He was addressing a gathering of science students of different public and private universities in Dhaka on last Friday. The dialogue was organised by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of its foundation. Students from different universities, teachers, politicians, businessmen, members of civil society and distinguished personalities attended the dialogue.
APJ, as he is popularly known, was obviously aware of the fact that nearly 50 per cent of Bangladesh's total population is youths. It was thus apt that he targeted them who are the main driving force of future Bangladesh. He pointed out that all people are born with potentiality and talent. So, he urged the students to work hard to flourish the potentiality and talent for becoming great human beings. The 'missile man' of India as he is called, APJ Abdul Kalam himself had dreamt of becoming a pilot but failing to be so, later conquered the 'space' by his sheer grit and determination. That is why he urged the students to get prepared to overcome any challenges, odds and problems to become successful in life.
The MCCI deserves kudos for inviting APJ as the guest of honour befitting its founding anniversary. Bringing in such a personality whose colourful life offers precious lessons for young minds is a commendable move. This is more so because students today in this country do not possibly get proper guidance from textbooks. Moral values are now treated as a thing of the distant past. But it was not really long ago when students in this country used to get inspiration from the lives of illustrious personalities. Furthermore, students here are reported to be otherwise reluctant to pursue their studies in basic science at higher levels of education.
According to the National Foundation of Youth of Bangladesh, there are 450 million people in the country who are aged 18-35 years. This large number of young/youth population can be a demographic dividend if they can be handled, educated and trained rightly. Otherwise, this segment of the country's population will become a burden for it. Based on the Labour Force Survey, population engaged with work or looking for work is 40.6 per cent in the age group of 15-29, whereas 53.53 per cent is in the 30-64 age group. In case of under-employment or people who work less than 35 hours in a week -- estimated at 24.53 per cent -- most of them are female (68.25 per cent). To overcome this situation, scopes for more education and employment opportunities are essential. APJ's main focus was on activating this vast youth force of the country for faster development of the country. This is indeed crucially relevant in the context of today's Bangladesh.
Let students have dreams to fulfil
FE Team | Published: October 19, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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