Almost one-third youths leave studies to support family amid Covid-19: Survey

Some 28 per cent youths aged above 18 left studies to support their families amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, according to an online survey conducted by Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, reports UNB.
Almost 80 per cent of the respondents said their household incomes declined, which adversely affected the education of the youth, particularly the female, it said.
The online survey was conducted from October 18 to 27 last to bring out the major concerns for the youth population amidst the pandemic, focusing on three major fields-education, employment and digital access.
The findings were disclosed at a dialogue titled "Covid-19 and Bangladesh: A Youth Agenda for Recovery" held online on Sunday coinciding with the 'National Youth Day 2020'.
The total number of respondents is 1,163 - 863 males and 299 females - and 70 per cent respondents are from rural areas. Some 60 per cent of the respondents are from the 18-23 age group, while 25 per cent from the 24-30 age group and the remaining 15 per cent from the 31 or above group.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, the platform's convenor, said the introduction of unemployment allowance should seriously be considered in the next national budget as part of the Covid-19 response.
He said the problem of the youth population is usually generalised in the policy framework.
"The youth population is not homogeneous. One group is engaged and the other group is alienated. The specific problem of physically challenged, indigenous groups, youths living in remote places and also problems of young women have to be addressed specifically," Bhattacharya added.
Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a member of the platform, said it would not be possible to implement the 'leave no-one behind' concept of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without the active participation of the youth population.
In this context, he stressed the need for addressing a number of gaps, particularly the skills gap, finance access gap, rural-urban gap and gender gap among the young population.
Jatiya Party MP Shameem Haider Patwary stressed the need for strengthening the vocational education in every Upazila to build the youth population with job-oriented skills.
"The government will have to strengthen the vocational education in every Upazila to enhance skills and build the young generation with job-oriented skills," he said.
Noting that the Covid-19 badly affects the current students, he said this pandemic dealt a big blow to the private universities in particular as some 10-15 per cent of their students may leave study.
The MP, however, said he doesn't support the concept of unemployment allowance and argued that training allowance should be given to the unemployed youths for 5-6 months so that they can become skilled.
Representatives from the business, entrepreneurs, transgender and differently-abled communities spoke at the function moderated by CPD Senior Research Fellow Towfiqul Islam Khan.