Bangladesh

BANGLADESH

Bangladesh (pop.171 million) has recently been convulsed by violent protests, with more than 450 killed. What is behind them? Students have been the leaders of the protests, angry over a quota system for government jobs which reserved 56% of these jobs for certain groups, in particular the descendants of those who fought for the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, but also for women and certain minorities.

The situation is on its way to resolution. The total of quotas has been reduced from 56% to 7%, which will open many more jobs to university students. The former prime minister has fled the country, and the interim head of government is now a widely respected Nobel-laureate economist.

This seems to be a success story, but its real significance is as an example of a problem in many developing nations: the educated unemployed. Young people in these countries struggle for a university education and then end up not finding work. In Bangladesh 4,000 government jobs open up a year and more than 300,000 students compete for them. The private economy, based heavily on garment production, has prospered but not enough to absorb the educated youth, who embody the country’s future.

Sources: The New York Times, 7/21/24 and The Economist, 8/10/24.