Bangladesh is currently in the middle of its demographic dividend (āĶāĶĻāĶŪāĶŋāĶĪāĶŋāĶ āĶēāĶā§āĶŊāĶūāĶāĶķ), a period where working-age adults outnumber dependents. With a cohort (āĶļāĶŪāĶā§āĶĪā§āͰā§āĶŊāĶž āĶĶāĶē) of 4.7 crore young people and a median (āĶŪāͧā§āĶŊāĶŪāĶū) age of 27, the country has a significant advantage. However, projections (āĶŠā§āͰā§āĶŽāĶūāĶāĶūāĶļ) indicate this window will close between 2035 and 2040, meaning there is limited time to utilize this potential before the population begins to age.
A major obstacle is the education system, where public spending is less than 2 percent of GDP. This underfunding has resulted in poor quality, with nearly half of children lacking basic numeracy (āĶāĶūāĶĢāĶŋāĶĪāĶŋāĶ āĶĶāĶā§āĶ·āĶĪāĶū) and reading skills. While higher education has expanded rapidly, it often rewards memorization over critical thinking, leading to a decline in employability (āĶāͰā§āĶŪāĶļāĶāĶļā§āĶĨāĶūāĶĻ āĶŊā§āĶā§āĶŊāĶĪāĶū). Consequently, tertiary-educated (āĶāĶā§āĶāĶķāĶŋāĶā§āĶ·āĶŋāĶĪ) unemployment has nearly tripled in recent years, and many young people are not in education, employment, or training.
The labor market presents a contradiction (āĶ āĶļāĶā§āĶāĶĪāĶŋ) because most graduates seek government jobs for security, even though the private sector generates the vast majority of employment. Most available jobs are in the informal sector (āĶ āĶĻāĶūāĶĻā§āĶ·ā§āĶ āĶūāĶĻāĶŋāĶ āĶāĶūāĶĪ), which lacks contracts or legal protection. This lack of opportunity sparked the student-led uprising (āĶāĶĢāĶ āĶā§āĶŊā§āĶĪā§āĶĨāĶūāĶĻ) in July 2024 and is driving a massive brain drain (āĶŪā§āͧāĶū āĶŠāĶūāĶāĶūāͰ), as over half of young people, including top engineering graduates, now wish to migrate permanently.
Furthermore, social pressures like high child marriage rates and declining female labor participation in urban areas hinder progress. While the government has introduced various youth policies, these efforts remain fragmented (āĶŽāĶŋāĶā§āĶāĶŋāĶĻā§āĶĻ) and lack a strong link between education and market demand. To succeed, the sources suggest that Bangladesh must quickly align its education system with the ambitions of its youth before this final economic window closes.
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