21 September 2022, NIICE Commentary 8279
Saroj Deo
Youth and education are very interlinked with each other in the present time. Innovative ideas of youth in education helps to incorporate current Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in education to meet the needs of the present time. Education is a process of development of knowledge and skills and implementation for development of individual, community and nations. In the contemporary world, youth with education and skills has high potential to revolutionize the course of a nation and the world.
Concept of Youth, Education and Transforming Education
The term “youth” is heterogeneous in nature. It encompasses people of various age, caste, ethnicity, gender, class and so forth. The age limits of youth differ from countries, institutions, academia and individuals. Youth has been identified according to age, authority, social position, power, ability, rights, knowledge, responsibility and so forth. The government of Bangladesh considers the people aged 18-29 years as the youths, while in India it’s 15-34 years whereas, in Nepal it’s 16-40 years. According to the UN and the World Bank, youth is classified as ages between 15-24 years.
According to John J. Macionis, Education is the social institution guiding a society’s transformation of knowledge including basic facts, job skill and cultural norms and values to its members. It is the process of facilitating the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, moral values, beliefs, habits, learning, and personal development. It helps individuals for the growth of personal development, enhance life skills, make them capable for employment, add moral value and make stability. According to UNESCO, there are five pillars of education i.e. learning to know, learning to be, learning to live together, learning to do and learning to transform oneself and society.
Transforming education means making the changes necessary to ensure that it meets its mission for today and the future or it refers to systemic changes in the prevailing educational model. At present, it is crucial to deal with increased globalisation, to meet the advancements in ICT, and development in research into teaching and learning approaches.
Youth, Education and the Government
Education of youth is very essential and relevant in the contemporary time. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimates of the world’s population, in 2019 youth numbered 1.2 billion persons between ages 15-24 years, or almost one in every six persons worldwide. The number of youth in the world is projected to grow by 7 percent to 1.3 billion by 2030. One fourth of the Bangladesh total population is in the 15-29 age group i.e. 27.82 percent which is 45.9 million. The youth literacy rate of Bangladesh is 94.9 percent. Similarly, in India the total population between 15-29 years is 27.2 percent. The youth literacy rate in India is 91.7 percent. Youth constitutes around 40.3 percent (between 16-40 years) of the total population in Nepal. The youth literacy rate of Nepal is 92.4 percent. The youth represents an active, enthusiastic and dynamic period which is also known as the golden period of life. This is the time when they can learn faster and can come up with innovative ideas. Youth with education add more value for the development and help for holistic sustainable development.
Inclusive education indicates the right for all children to have useful and education in no discriminatory environment. The affordable and accessible quality of education system to all is very essential for achieving sustainable development and could also play a vital role to control conflict and violence. National Youth Policy 2017 of Bangladesh has prioritised following areas for Youth Development such as empowerment, health and recreation, good governance, sustainable development, equitable development, building a healthy society, globalisation and survey and research. Similarly, five pillars of National Youth Policy 2022 of India are social justice, education, youth leadership and development, employment and entrepreneurship, and health and fitness. The Youth Vision-2025 and ten-year long strategy plan of the Government of Nepal have focused on unity, equality, justice, harmony and inclusion for the holistic development of the young generation. It has five major pillars i.e. quality and vocational education, employment, entrepreneurship and skill development, youth health and social security, mobilization, participation and leadership development and sports and entertainment and these have indicators as well.
Rights of Education in Constitution
Article 17 of the Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees free and compulsory education. Article 17 Section A focuses on establishing a uniform, mass oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such a stage as may be determined by law. Similarly, in India the Constitution (eighty-sixth amendment) act, 2002 inserted article 21-A in the constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a fundamental right in such a manner as the state may, by law, determine. Articles 18 and 31 of the Nepalese constitution have preserved the right to equality and right to education respectively. Therefore, the constitutions of Bangladesh, India and Nepal have guaranteed the right of every citizen to have education up to a certain level. The preamble of the constitution of Nepal has guaranteed the proportional participation of the marginalized groups. The federalism and proportional participation which are guaranteed in the constitution of Nepal have been bringing more inclusiveness in the education system. For instance, CTEVT provides wide ranges of scholarship to Dalit, Muslim, and economically backward people. On 18 December 2014, the UNGA adopted by consensus, a resolution, spearheaded by Sri Lanka, declaring 15th of July as the World Youth Skills Day and its main goal is to achieve better socio-economic conditions for today’s youth, including as a means of addressing the challenges of unemployment and underemployment.
Youth in Transforming Education
The youth of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal have been relevantly proactive as they have been operating various programmes for “Transforming Education”. There are many youth organizations and individuals, who have been working for it, from local, provincial to a national level with the collaboration of all three levels of government and national and international development sectors such as Teach for Bangladesh, Teach for India, Teach for Nepal, VSO Bangladesh, VSO India, VSO Nepal, Restless Development India, Restless Development Nepal, United World School Nepal, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, and others. In addition, there are many individuals in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal who have been working for holistic development for education from individual level. It directly helps to ensure the inclusive and equitable quality of education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
In recent years the literacy rate of Bangladesh is increasing rapidly and youth have been playing a remarkable role in transforming education. They seem very active in this work. There are many youth organizations who have been playing significant roles for transforming education in Bangladesh. Durbin foundation is a youth development organization working on ICT, Education and development through various activities in Bangladesh. Similarly, Bangladesh Youth Organization for Skill Development – BYOSD is another youth-based working for many issues of youth via seminars, workshop, and training and also organises inter-school/college/univarsity competitions on several skills and educative topics. JAAGO Foundation with its youth platform stepped forward to provide the youth of Bangladesh a voice. Its main goal is to increase the meaningful participation of youth within their communities, schools, peer groups, and families, enhancing their skills, providing opportunities, and fostering healthy relationships.
Youth India Foundation presents a very meticulously planned e-school that will not only serve the purpose of distance learning but also won’t compromise on the students’ health. Similarly, Youth India foundation, YIF is a social entrepreneurship platform where the youth of the nation gather to become an organization where development, funding and implementation solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues is focused on. In addition, International Youth Edu-Skills Foundation (IYES Foundation) is a youth organization working to empower youth through education, skills, employment and entrepreneurship to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In the same way, in Nepal, a youth led and youth run organization called YUWA conducts outreach programmes related to Comprehensive Sexuality Education to promote Sex Education from the secondary level itself. Also, educational companies like Karkhana engage young people in hands-on learning so that they can garner learning in different contexts by doing things (through a learning by doing approach).
Conclusion
From all above enlightenment, we can say that the government, young people, youth organisations and other stakeholders are putting efforts to transform education. Their efforts have resulted in making changes in the transforming education system in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. However, there is enough room for youth and other stakeholders to work for transforming education in these countries. We could see limitations of the program from stakeholders for transforming education, however, the active initiative to help youth by government, civil society and other stakeholders could play a significant role in transforming education.
Saroj Deo is Research Associate at NIICE.
