Foreign employment

Almost 50,000 youths who stood in an over a kilometer-long serpentine line on Tuesday and Wednesday to apply for Korean language test, something mandatory to have a chance of laying hands into one of the 4,000 odd jobs that Korea had reserved for Nepalis this year, spoke volumes about the gross mismatch between opportunities and aspirations in the country. It also told us loudly and clearly that the never-ending political flux has cost the country dearly in terms of many important things such as employment generation, which is so vital in order to retain the young nation-builders here at home.



We know very well that this instance of the youths puffing and panting to lay their hands on the application form was not an isolated case. Every year, whenever applications are called for 250 seats in the British Army and Singapore Police, an overwhelming number of Nepalis apply for it. Similarly, each year, hundreds and thousands of other Nepalis leave no stone unturned to try their luck in getting the US government’s Diversity Visa.



Let us be clear. If suitable opportunities can be provided here at home, most of the young people will not forgo the luxury of staying back in their own country to try their luck in some unknown foreign land. However, in the absence of meaningful opportunities, those in their twenties and thirties will aspire to move up the social ladder by looking for avenues somewhere else. While the recent rush to land a job in South Korea was a telling reminder of this natural phenomenon, it is nothing new. Every day, thousands of Nepali youths who fly off to Malaysia, Middle East, Japan and some African countries, both legally and illegally, keep on reminding us how pathetically our state has failed.



The solution to this problem, as is the answer to almost every other crisis that the country is presently facing, is political stability. Nothing meaningful is possible in its absence. But it is something that seems to be perennially missing in the country. In its absence, the idea of creating conducive business-doing environment, which in turn would lead to the creation of jobs, will merely remain an idea. We hope that this rush of youths to flee the country would open the eyes of at least some of our politicians.



Nepal’s present demographic dividend is something that is serving either the political leadership who mobilize the youths for their political objectives or a handful of foreign countries. True, we cannot undermine the fact that the money that they send back home is what has been keeping the Nepali economy afloat. But pertinent questions remain on whether this model of development is sustainable. We must remember that this demographic dividend is not here to stay. Sooner or later, the population would start graying and then we would be able to do nothing but cry over the squandered opportunity. Let us at least start making attempts not to miss the bus!

Related story

NRB floats foreign employment bonds worth Rs 250 million