The Daily Star Vocabulary: Editorial [ 14 July 2017 ]

Foregoing the benefits of demographic dividend

A costly mistake

Since 2007, Bangladesh has had more people of working age than non-working, known as demographic dividend. All indicators, however, show that we have failed to accommodate the large numbers of people willing to work into the workforce, let alone benefit from our demographic dividend. This is a huge failure on our part as it is precisely by making the most of their demographic dividends that many other Asian countries, such as China and Japan, have managed to rapidly develop their respective economies.But it is not only that we have failed to benefit, it is also that by being unable to provide millions of people, particularly the youth, with jobs, we have also disillusioned them and have forced them towards various activities that actually exert different forms of social costs on society and the economy in general. These may include getting involved in criminal activities, resorting to substance abuse, etc., which in turn increases security and health expenditure costs among others.As this newspaper reported, there are about 7 million people who are currently underutilised. Worryingly, the number of jobs that are being added every year is a measly 1.4 million, drastically down from the 4 million that had been added between 2010 and 2013.As economists and other experts have suggested, in order to turn the tide, the government badly needs to increase investment in the education and health sectors and do it intelligently. Only a holistic approach involving different stakeholders can now make up the ground that has been lost because of poor policies of the past.

Vocabulary

 Foregoing  = পরিহার করে চলা, ত্যাগ করা, এড়িয়ে যাওয়া
demographic  = জনসংখ্যাতাত্ত্বিক
dividend = প্রদেয় অর্থ, লভ্যাংশ, ভাজ্য
indicators = সূচক, নির্দেশক
accommodate  = বাসস্থান প্রদান করা,
demographic dividend = মানব বিভাজন
respective  = নিজ নিজ, স্ব স্ব
disillusioned  = সুখস্বপ্ন ভেঙে দেয়া
exert  = প্রয়োগ করা, প্রদর্শন করা
resorting to = আশ্রয় নেয়া
substance abuse = আনন্দ পাওয়া বা কর্মশক্তি বৃদ্ধির জন্য মাদক গ্রহণ করা
underutilised = অব্যবহৃত, কমব্যবহৃত
Worryingly = আশংকাজনকভাবে
measly  = নগণ্য, অতি অল্প
drastically  = আকস্মিকভাবে, জোরালোভাবে
drastically down = হঠাৎ কম
turn the tide = পরিস্থিতির পরিবর্তন করা, শ্রোতের গতিপথ পরিবর্তিত করা, ঘটনার  গতিপথ পরিবর্তন করা, ঘটনা অন্যদিকে নিয়ে যাওয়া
holistic approach = সামগ্রিক পদক্ষ