Relevance of college graduation to labour market

One of the riveting debates in the country today is the quality of education imparted at the tertiary level and the absorption of graduates into the labour market. The subject of interest is how suitable our graduates from the National University affiliated colleges are for absorption into the job market and what relevance does the current state of education has at preparing these graduates to fit into the employers' scheme of things.
"The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) conducted the first-round tracer study on graduates of tertiary-level colleges in 2021 to trace the graduates from a sample of NU-affiliated tertiary colleges and to assess the labor market outcome and relevance of the tertiary colleges. The students who graduated (Degree/ Honors/ Masters programs) in 2017 have been chosen from a sample of NU-affiliated tertiary colleges. The BIDS conducted the Follow-up Tracer Study in May-June 2023 with a new cohort of graduates, students, teachers, and employers to assess how college graduate job market outcomes have changed." The data were collected from randomly selected graduates and students and the categories included drawing responses from all government and non-government Honors and Masters Colleges affiliated with the National University (NU) that had a minimum of 150 new intakes in Honors Courses. Some 61 (out of about 608 that met study criterion) colleges were covered in this study.
Some interesting facts have emerged. 71.76 per cent (80 per cent male and 65.69 per cent female) are employed. Average unemployment rate amongst those covered in the survey is 66 per cent (here the female unemployment outstrips malesby nearly 2:1), which means male graduates fare much better than their female counterparts in employability. Wage employment is preferred, i.e. salaried positions with a mere 16.20 percent of graduates preferring self-employment. The data point to a quarter of graduates having failed to find employment even three-four years after graduation.
The study gives credence to claims that unemployment amongst the educated youth is significantly higher than those with no graduation. This claim is supported by the Labour Force Survey 2016-17 where it was found that unemployment rate among those having tertiary education qualifications was 11.20 per cent that was nearly three times higher than the national average of 4.2 per cent! It is worth noting that the majority of the unemployed graduates come from BA (pass) course in Political Science, Library Management, Bangla, and Islamic History and Culture. Graduates who studied English, Economics, Accounting, Sociology, Finance and Banking are less unemployed.
A mere 13.30 per cent of respondents (of all colleges) stated that they have career counselling services on their college premises. This is a major shortcoming. The bulk of fresh graduates are left to their own devices to find a career path on their own. Apparently nearly 7.0 out of 10 principals of non-government NU-affiliated colleges believe their institutions have done a good job at preparing their students for the labour market, but only 52 per cent of government NU colleges' principals think the same. But principals of both types of institutions believe that some subjects taught have little demand in the job market - which is inadvertently adding to the unemployment rate.
NU college education is primarily academic. There is hardly any industry collaboration. A mere 6.60 college principals had reported about some form of industry collaboration for their students. There is no such thing as 'career clubs' in NU-affiliated colleges and such concepts are not explored. Interestingly enough, employers who were interviewed stated that "they recruit the graduates based on qualifications not based on institutes. Nevertheless, almost every employer reported that their establishment has a special interest in recruiting NU graduates." Apparently, 91 per cent NU graduates are enthusiastic about working at low salaries and are loyal to the organisation (fewer job switching).
This would indicate that NU graduates have low expectation about getting jobs in the first place and then holding on for dear life to keep those jobs. This is hardly conducive to or beneficial for graduates or the respective companies they work for because productivity is neither valued nor encouraged. Obviously, there is a great disconnect between academia and the job market. Producing 'graduates' who have marginal critical thinking capacity results in dependence on foreign labour to run various institutions and commercial interests in the country, driving up operational costs and creating a situation where millions of graduates remain unemployed or grossly under-employed.
It is time NU graduates get internship programmes built into their curricula, particularly in productive sectors like food industries, banking, etc. Every NU college must have working alumni associations because they perform as a bridge for new graduates and seniors, many of whom are employers in various sectors of the economy. The college authorities can organise regular job fairs that give valuable opportunity for students to find out what sort of employment opportunities are out there, students and graduates get a chance to interact with company / organisation representatives to find out about career opportunities. There is a massive unmet demand for technical education in the country, and the introduction of such courses can easily be done in many colleges because they have land and buildings already in place. Inclusion of such courses is a matter of policy (and not financial) decision because students are willing to pay for these skills. Start with these few basic steps and produce a more capable workforce not just for domestic employment but also for thousands of job opportunities in the international labour market which the NU graduates can avail. This in turn could be a lifeline for the national economy as inbound remittance would get a serious boost.

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