SLC-S29/W1-“Thinking and Ideas!| If You Were in Charge!

Assalamu Alaikum, how are you all? I hope everyone is doing well. I am joining The Learning Challenge Competition, organized by @ninapenda. In this, I will talk about Thinking and Ideas. So without further delay, let’s get started.

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If the full power of Bangladesh were given to me for one year, the very first thing I would do is bring a massive change in Bangladesh’s education system. That is: building a skills-based education system and transforming it into a competency-based structure. This limitation would not remain only in the school and college curriculum. It would deeply impact the job market, the recruitment process, and society’s value system as well.

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1. If you were given full authority for one year in your community or country, what is the first issue you would address?

I would establish a skills-based education system.
In the current system, education is mostly limited to rote learning (memorizing by heart), it is exam-centric and degree-dependent. Even society evaluates people based on this.
I would change this into a system where:

Along with regular studies, skills-based subjects would be added and made mandatory.
For example: Digital skills (coding, digital marketing, data analysis), creative skills (graphics, content creation, animation), entrepreneurship, communication & leadership, problem solving, green technology, trade skills (electrician, plumbing, automobile repair), etc.

Every student would have to gain real-world work experience. Every student would have to do project-based learning, internships, and apprenticeships.

In jobs — both government and private sector recruitment — skills and practical assessment would be the primary criteria instead of degrees. Whoever can best prove their skills would move forward.

As a result of these changes, education would no longer remain just a process of collecting certificates. It would become a powerful tool for building a life.

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2. Why did you choose this issue over others?

Bangladesh is currently suffering from a terrible unemployment crisis, most of which involves educated people — including degree holders.
According to the latest data and survey (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Survey 2024):

• Unemployment rate among university graduates is 13.5% — more than three times the national average unemployment rate of around 4.5%.
• Around 8.85 lakh university graduates are currently unemployed.
• In many cases, one-third of graduates do not find jobs even after searching for 2 years.

The sole reason for this crisis is our education system. There is a deep skills mismatch between education and the job market. The job market demands certain skills, but we are producing millions of degree holders.
As a result, frustration, mental pressure, and social instability are being created. Even brain drain and economic loss are happening.

That is why changing the education system would solve many problems at once.
Youth would become confident, poverty would decrease, the economy would become stronger, and even crime and unrest would reduce.
That’s why I consider this to be the work that can create the biggest impact.

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3. What is that one difficult decision you would have to make?

The most difficult and controversial decision would be: completely stopping preliminary screening based only on degree or GPA in all types of (government/private) jobs and recruitment processes.
Instead, skills tests, practical assessments, project portfolios, and mandatory interviews would become compulsory in all recruitments. This would give everyone equal opportunity.

There will be a lot of protests in implementing this. Because many families have spent their lifetime savings and taken loans to educate their children and get them degrees.

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4. How would you explain this decision to people who disagree with you?

I would tell everyone respectfully, openly, and sincerely:

“I understand your pain and anger. There are many families who worked day and night, took loans, and dreamed of helping their children get a degree. But there was one wrong belief among them — that this degree would give lifelong security.
But the reality is completely different. The job market can no longer keep that promise. And without this, our country’s economic progress will not happen.

So the best thing is to choose this new system. Because if we continue with the old system, millions more youths’ dreams will be shattered.
I don’t want to cause you pain — I want your children’s future to be truly secure. And secure in the real sense.

I know that with this sudden change, those who have already obtained degrees will not have equal rights. Even if we only bring change in the education sector, we would have to wait a long time for economic progress. In the current global economy, we would fall far behind.

In that case, what we can do is:

• We will launch a special skills upgrade program. So that those who already have degrees do not suffer. This program will be free or very low-cost, so they can quickly learn new skills and return to the market.

• We will educate the future generation in such a way that they do not depend only on degrees, but can stand on their own feet according to their skills.

I know this will definitely be painful and uncomfortable. But if we can endure this short-term pain, then for the next 30–40 years we can make our youth invincible.

I don’t ask for much from you. I only ask for a little patience, trust, and cooperation. And I ask for this so that together we can build a new, fair, strong, and prosperous Bangladesh.”

Since I have only one year, it will not be possible to completely change everything in one year. But I will make the teacher training, public opinion building, legal framework, and institutional foundation so strong that future governments cannot deviate from this path and will have to follow it.

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This is my main plan — a system and change that will not only solve our problems but will truly transform our youth power into real strength.

What do you think about my thoughts and this change? Please let me know in the comments.
Thank you so much for reading.

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I would like to invite my friends:
@tanvirahammad10
@ahp93
@bijoy1

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