Can Bangladesh turn into a knowledge economy?

As we say goodbye to the terrible time of 2020 and enter not only a new year in 2021 but a fresh decade to 2030, it is time to look in advance with some impression of optimism for our region over the coming 10 years.

Bangladesh has the ability and potential for learning to be a significant knowledge-based overall economy by 2030 if we make the proper decisions and investments in the years ahead. Unfortunately, right now we are in an unhealthy location, as was demonstrated by the publication of this year's Global Know-how Index by UNDP, where Bangladesh ranked 112th out of 138 countries-we had been the lowest ranked in South Asia, with India rating highest inside our region. We need to make a mindful decision to improve our rank yearly over the up coming 10 years and produce the requisite investments for doing that as a subject of high national concern.

What steps could possibly be used this regard? The 1st point to make can be that what I am advocating for won't cost any more money, so finance isn't a substantial constraint. Rather, the major decision we have to collectively have as a country is to acknowledge that people aren't headed in the right direction, and therefore, we desire a major paradigm change to improve our direction of travelling. This has to be a collective decision not only by our political leaders but by every mother or father and little person who would like to end up being better educated, in a way befitting the brand new paradigm rather than business-as-usual.

We need to start with the tertiary education system, where Bangladesh today has over a hundred universities, counting both open public together with private universities. While this is indeed a substantial achievement when it comes to quantity, most are incredibly poor with regards to quality. Indeed, in global ranks of the world's best most universities, actually Bangladesh's foremost University of Dhaka has got been dropping down the rank during the last few years.

Hence, we must give attention to changing the universities from becoming simple certificate-issuing factories to real locations of learning with an focus on teaching skills, and the capability to think and solve problems, rather than simply pass exams through rote memorisation of information and regurgitation.

This will desire a major shift in giving incentives to our teachers, who have the opportunity to change if the reward system for them was changed. One way this may be done can be for the university authorities to prize research and development from faculty, and also for the national federal government to provide benefits, including funding for study. For genuine knowledge technology, at least two and even three percent of the countrywide budget should be allocated to supporting nationally valuable study that addresses the issues and options of Bangladesh. This is a important indicator of whether we genuinely graduate out of Least Developed Region (LDC) status over another few years. We can not graduate so long as we stay dependent on worldwide consultants to fly in and present us knowledge. We should generate our own knowledge or we will stay dependent forever.

The next major change in investment opportunities should be in making funding from the banking sector designed for young entrepreneurs, with a concentrate on green work at home opportunities. While it has indeed started, it requires to become scaled up incredibly rapidly within the global market and not just confined to the Bangladesh market by itself. The Covid-19 pandemic has already led to plenty of Bangladeshi labourers returning residence while at the same time, the world overall economy and education possesses shifted online, so that we need not travel to a different country to activate in providing solutions globally. The biggest raw material to make the most of this option is teenagers, both girls and also boys, of which we've many millions. However, we are able to only gain the huge benefits if we invest in educating our bright and eager youth to understand the capacity to make an online search to hook up to the global market on a major scale.

The third main step we will need to take is to permit the Bangladesh economy to link better and efficiently with the global economy, and one way this may be done is always to get the Bangladesh Taka right into a freely convertible currency. Enough time has indeed arrive for Bangladesh to permit this task to be planned and implemented within the next few years. It will be a huge step of progress for our economy.

Finally, we must change the pattern of our education, including far better vocational training and better top quality secondary education, and even possibly primary education, for our children. None of this will require new funding, nonetheless it will require us to change just how we do factors and how exactly we incentivise teachers at all levels. If these policy guidelines are taken and applied sincerely, we could indeed change the facial skin of our region by the finish of the coming 10 years.

I assume that our single greatest national asset are actually our girls and males, and if we are able to spend money on educating them better, we can indeed transition to a substantial knowledge-based economy within ten years. However, it should take a countrywide consensus for us to help make the necessary paradigm change needed.