Sparing job applicants burden of fees, cumbersome procedures

Joblessness rate among the educated youth is growing day by day in Bangladesh. The country has nearly 800,000 graduates who were unemployed in 2022, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). This unemployment rate was 12 per cent in the tertiary level, which is the highest among all levels of education, according to the Labour Force Survey conducted by the BBS. This survey shows that even after getting the highest degree from the university, many youths are still unemployed. Yet, they have to pay a hefty fee for applying for jobs in public and private institutions. This is undoubtedly an extra burden on them. On average, an educated jobseeker applies for at least three to four jobs per month. For this, they have to pay at least Tk 4,000 as application fees, which most applicants cannot afford. Many of them do not get any support from their families and therefore take to tutoring for arranging application fees. The job-seekers who live outside Dhaka city have to bear transportation, food and accommodation costs along with job application fees.
Charging fee for job application is a common practice in our country. However, it should be within the reach of the unemployed youth. We do not know why government offices, including the Bangladesh Civil Service Commission, compel students to pay high application fees. While reducing fee for job application or charging no fee at all is not a big deal for the government, it can be of great benefit for jobseekers. The exam for jobs should be held at the district and divisional headquarters to spare the job applicants the trouble of travelling long distances.

Sheikh Saymon Parves Himel,
Student of the Pharmacy Department,
Mawlana Bhashai Science and
Technology University,
[email protected]