Foreign Ministry is trying to reach out to young minds to involve them in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) which rocks the world and reshape the global industrial sector.
It is feared that millions of jobs including doctors, lawyers and accountants will be lost to artificial intelligence and use of robotics and the existing education system is not enough to arm the students to cope with the wave of changes.
In this backdrop, the foreign ministry in association with World Economic Forum (WEF) organized a Dialogue on Fourth Industrial Revolution with students at a city hotel Tuesday (Mar 12).
At the dialogue, policymakers, academia, industrialists, entrepreneurs, researchers are bombarded with questions on issues like education system, skill development and training, Rohingya crisis and its impact on 4IR, why local industrialists recruit foreigners, what are challenges of start-up.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and focal point of WEF in the ministry said, “Bangladesh will turn 50 in 2021 and the kind of things that are happening and what WEF transformation maps tells us, next five to 10 years, Bangladesh is definitely improved may be at an exponential pace and rate.”
Now the question is if we analyse the future based on what had happened during the last 10 to 20 years, it would be inappropriate and irrelevant, he said.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, who is an IBA graduate and a readymade garment entrepreneur, said, “After completing my graduation I told my supervisor that I wanted to do my intern in a RMG factory.”
My professor looked at me silently for couple of seconds and said, “You are a disgrace to IBA,” he said.
I did not care and did my intern at an RMG factory and after 10 to 15 years, IBA organized a programme to honour 10 most successful students it produced and I was one of them, the minister said.
Foreign Secretary in his speech said analytical ability, problem solving capacity and positive attitude towards others and life are the main tools to cope with the new environment.
President of Observer Research Foundation Samir Saran in his key-note speech said, we conducted a study and found that 84 percent of Indian students look for employment in internet while only 14 percent employers recruit from the net.
The students are ready but, the employers who have traditional mindset are not, he said.
He said 4IR is all about informality and a person would do multiple jobs simultaneously.
Saran said, Bangladesh has 60 million students and if $1000 is spent on them per year for skill development, $60 billion will be needed.
It is not possible for the government to meet the huge expenditure and there must be a model where public sector, private entrepreneurs, world bodies, NGOs will provide the necessary funds, he said.
Second generation RMG industrialist SM Tanvir said we have to recruit foreigners as there are certain jobs where we don’t find suitable Bangladeshis.
Citing example, he said, “I recruited foreign designers with five-digit salary as I don’t find any Bangladeshi who are competent enough to serve my purpose.”
We invest heavily on skill development to have a good team, said 40-year-old entrepreneur.
Managing Director of Mohammadi Group Rubana Huq said, there is a mismatch between what we want and the education potential candidates have.
Vice President of Pathao, Ahmed Fahad, who is only 21 years old entrepreneur said, in 25 years times 25 to 30 per cent jobs that we see today will be disappeared.