All-out efforts should be made to deal with the problem of labour under-utilization fully for the country to advance

Figures for unemployment in many developing countries are now a matter of contention. They have failed to garner the necessary data on unemployment because of the manner in which they define employment. In some developing countries, people who have worked at least for one hour in the last seven days are considered to be employed. By this definition, lower employment rates are recorded, thereby painting the unemployment situation in a better light. This is true in Nepal’s case whose official unemployment rate is only 3.6 per cent yet it suffers from huge labour under-utilization. This is high especially among the rich and literate urban folks in the nation. In other words we can take this to mean that the economically active people who belong to the working age group are either unemployed, under-employed, or for that matter are earning less in comparison to the skills they possess. Some are performing work that does not match their skills.

A survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) among 3,000 rural and urban households shows that the problem of labour under-utilization is worse in the urban areas where 28 per cent of the labour force is under-utilized. Going by the statistics of CBS, the labour under-utilization rate in Nepal at present stands at 21 per cent. Out of this, of the urban workforce 9.1 per cent are unemployed, 8.1 per cent are holding jobs that do not meet their skills and 2.8 per cent are earning less than what they are entitled to given their skills. Labour under-utilization is high among the rich throughout the country. Labour that is under-utilized is 23.8 per cent of those who are economically active who come under the category of the richest. Even the labour of the literate population remains unused with 25.5 per cent of them without jobs.

Meanwhile, 10.8 per cent of those belonging to the working age group who are unemployed are active economically. Another thing that should be noted is that out of the economically active people, 3.7 per cent are holding jobs not matching their skills and 2.8 per cent are earning less although they possess more skills than required. While determining the unemployment rate the method is carried out on the economically active population of the working age group. About 57 per cent of people who are of the working age group are considered to be the economically active population.  The others without jobs are considered unemployed for they remain economically inactive. This could have several meanings--that these people do not want jobs, are not seeking to be employed and do not work, or are unable to do the job even if they find one and those who rarely work. The majority of the employed in rural areas of Nepal are working in the agricultural sector (68.8 per cent). Wholesale and retail trade as well as the repairing of motor vehicles and motorcycle are found to constitute seven per cent of the employed, and the manufacturing sector employs 6.3 per cent. This can be compared with the urban people where only 26.3 per cent of the working people are in the agriculture sector. Efforts should be made to deal with the labour under-utilization fully for the country to advance.

Rote learning

Many policies have been made and changed in Nepal over the decades, all in the name of improving the quality of education. But the way of teaching and learning in our educational institutions has not changed much – rote learning still rules. Teachers vomit what they have to say and students try to memorize what has been received. Creativity, innovation and imagination have limited roles to play in the whole process. Our students are made to ingest knowledge, but not taught how to apply that knowledge to practical problems.

This old teaching method lands our students in problems when it comes to using their minds to solve new problems in real-life situations. Students are not expected to have a deeper understanding of the underlying concepts as the questions are thus set. But the schools could nevertheless introduce innovate techniques, at the same time paying due attention to the examination needs. But hardly any school has cared to produce creative and innovative students. In almost all schools, most teachers scold or even punish students who raise such questions, telling them not to be over-smart. This practice affects a country’s progress, apart from that of the students.