Once upon a time, there lived a young boy, who used to watch his sister play the keyboard every day. At the age of five, he himself started composing little pieces. This little guy grew up to be the most influential composer of the Classical era. His name was Mozart.
As crazy as it sounds, but how many young people of Bangladesh today dream to reach such heights in their livelihood, pursuing their passion? Of course, it is not rational, because there can be no second Mozart. Legends are exceptional from their very birth, immensely supported by the people around them and most definitely favoured by their fortune. Regular people may hold some talents which remain ignored in the long run, in the process of earning a living to survive. Legends, on the other hand, are born to make history naturally.
Let us get real for once. In the modern era of the 21st century, when technology has flourished beyond our imagination, do we really believe that history can only be made spontaneously? Or, can we create history through providing encouragements and training the latent creativeness of our young people? Then again, why pursue something so uncertain when you can easily have a good stable job completing a prevalent academic degree like everyone else? And in the end, would it really be worth it? It still sounds vague, so let us provide some facts and figures.
Bangladesh has a population of over 160 million, and a massive 30 per cent of this population is young people who will enter the job market soon. It will be nearly impossible to provide the conventional 'good stable jobs' to such a booming population in the near future. No job means a low standard of living and fewer investments, which will ultimately clutter the growth of an economy. Thus, in order to survive, we do not just need doctors and BBA students. Rather we need to cherish our talents and initiate the possibilities of fresh industries in order to compete with the rest of the world and give rise to a versatile population.
We need customised skill development education.
The people of Bangladesh are so preoccupied with the orthodox idea of good stable jobs that they overlook the increasing opportunities in the thriving creative industry presently. However, the creative industry generates about 29.5 million jobs throughout the world. It not only promotes self-employment but also is open to people of all ages and backgrounds, contributing significantly to youth employment and careers.
The net worth of the creative industry of Bangladesh is now Tk 120 billion, ranging from advertisement making firms to software development organisations, employing at least 300 thousand people. The advertising market in Bangladesh is of about Tk 3 million and is growing in volume by 10 per cent a year, about 99 per cent of our advertisements are made locally, there are about 40 medium and large event management companies, even the massive event to inaugurate the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 was managed by a private event management company, about 400 companies are making television programmes, the software industry generates about Tk 78 billion a year, over 750 companies in this sector are members of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) employing about 100 thousand persons, there are over 150 companies in this sector outside of BASIS and about 70 thousand freelancers in the sector. There are also a lot of startups like Purple Bot Digital, Portbliss Games, Techlab, Bongo etc.
With the purpose of achieving expertise in these creative sectors and contributing efficiently, the young population of Bangladesh need to be fostered in skill development education. We must incorporate creative subjects, skill development practices or art education in our national curriculum syllabus as mandatory subjects in order to provide incentives to the latent skills of our population from a very young age.
The true value of arts education goes far beyond learning how to draw, sing, or play a musical instrument. Getting involved with the visual arts, music, and theater not only broadens our perspective and helps to promote social tolerance, but also gives students some real academic advantages. In other words, taking an art, drama, or music class is not just having something to do besides regular studies, it is about going beyond the rigidity of 'right' and 'wrong' answers and looking for those little delicacies that surround us. Creativity improves one's cognitive skills, critical thinking and expertise in mathematics. It provides the stimulation to be confident, attentive, focused and implements team management abilities in oneself.
The world is changing and so are traditional learning methods. We are losing important skills like leadership and creativity focusing on only the academics, a cost that we cannot afford. It is time for our kids to change the world and be the leaders of tomorrow. The students of our country are so burdened by the not-so-practical theories and academic examinations, that they barely get the time to work on their potentials and become better. Times have changed. The need for skill development education is a must to initiate the promise of a better generation in the future, who will never go to work, because how can it be called work when you are doing what you love?
The writer is currently studying in the second year of BBA programme at the IBA, University of Dhaka,
Email: [email protected]
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