Brac webinar: Quality technical education for youth the way forward in the post-Covid-19 era

Quality technical vocational education training and skills development increase the prospect for the youth to gain access to decent employment. However, hands-on technical training has become difficult since the outbreak of Covid-19 which has forced people to maintain social distancing and stay at home, halting all activities outside.

In such a challenging time, World Youth Skills Day was observed on 15 July, like every year, to raise awareness about the importance of youth skills development.

Marking the day, Brac Skills Development Programme (SDP) organized a webinar on Friday to share ideas on the implementation of innovative delivery methods for skills training and gather valuable perspectives of the key persons in the skills and employment sector, said a statement.

Brac Executive Director Asif Saleh moderated the event titled ‘In pandemic: Employment opportunities through skills training’. Munir Hasan, head of Youth Programme at the daily Prothom Alo, Fahim Mashroor, chief executive officer (CEO) of Bdjobs, Adnan Imtiaz Halim, CEO of Sheba XYZ, and Tasmiah T Rahman, in-charge of Brac SDP participated in the program, said the press release.

Speakers at the event tried to identify demand for relevant skills, address employment opportunities, and provide career counselling to youth in the post-Covid-19 era.

The participants also had a discussion on creating awareness on the role of agile skills service providers, employability based on the post-Covid-19 skills demand, and emerging employability sectors.

Brac’s Asif Saleh emphasized thinking out of the box to match the needs of the upcoming challenges.

“During the post-Covid-19 times, we need to rethink education, skills, and jobs.

“While there is a shortage of jobs, there will be new kinds of opportunities opening up also. How you self-teach and arm yourself with skills will make the difference in terms of getting jobs,” said Saleh.

“Digital jobs, IT jobs, healthcare jobs, and identifying opportunities to become entrepreneurs may be key to your success, he added.

“If you can't find these opportunities, don't waste time sitting idle, work as interns and do volunteer work. These will give you the much-needed skills to make you more employable,” Saleh suggested to the youths.

Munir Hasan prioritized the spread of technical and vocational education to arm the youth with employable skills.

Munir opined: “To boost efficiency and the financial competence of the nation, it is paramount to spread quality technical vocational education in the country.

“The sooner our policymakers understand this, the better it will be for the country.”

“For this, proper appraisal of skilled technical workers is needed alongside building infrastructure across the country,” he further said.

Adnan Imtiaz Halim put emphasis on ensuring affordable access to vocational education during the ongoing crisis besides developing further skills to prepare the young population to survive the post-Covid-19 scenario.

“We must address the post-pandemic employment crisis and familiarize the youth on how sharpening one’s skills will make them more employable,” Halim said.

Tasmiah T Rahman stressed on growing one’s resilience and urged the youth to stay connected during these challenging times.

“As the future is uncertain, our youth should be encouraged to be resilient rather than making them subject experts.

“They must cultivate the exposure that they will need to switch to different jobs to move forward, and this should be welcomed as an opportunity rather than a challenge,” she said.