Spring 2018 witnessed the return of EconFest, an event by Young Economists' Forum (YEF), North South University's first co-curricular club. Econfest focuses on providing a platform for students to discuss about and increase awareness about certain issues in Bangladesh. EconFest 4.0, co-sponsored by the Bangladesh Tourism Board (BTB) and powered by Medimet Pharmaceuticals, was the fourth installment of the event. Amidst the current situation in our country regarding the education sector, this event was suitably themed on 'Education in Bangladesh'.
EconFest 4.0 was held on April 10 and 11 at the North South University campus. The event was planned to have several sessions, which included a plenary discussion and an experts' dialogue. The event also included two competitions, Speakonomics Senior for undergraduate students and Speakonomics Junior for high school students. The best paper award of Speakonomics Senior went to Ayesha Ahmed of Dhaka University. She received a monetary prize of Tk 40,000. For Speakonomics Junior this award went to Yaman Karim from Scholastica, who won a monetary prize of Tk 30, 000.
On March 10, the call for papers for both the competitions went out. Speakonomics Senior and Speakonomics Junior were both paper presentation competitions; one for undergraduate level students, with the topic 'Is higher education an effective way to close the 21st-century skills gap in Bangladesh'; and the other for high school students, the topic of which was 'School enrollment rates vs. quality of education: Which of the two should we prioritise?'
The promotions of the event followed in full swing. By the last date of submission, April 03, an overwhelming response was generated with over 50 submissions for the senior category, and over 40 submissions for the junior category. From these submissions, 20 participants with the top papers of Speakonomics Senior and 15 participants with the top papers of Speakonomics Junior were selected to present their papers in the presentation round at North South University premises.
On April 10, the first session of Speakonomics Senior took place, with the judges being impressed by the quality of the participants' research abilities. On April 11, the second session of Speakonomics Senior, as well as the presentation rounds of Speakonomics Junior took place simultaneously, commencing at 10 o'clock in the morning and continuing till half-past one in the afternoon. The participants of Speakonomics Junior impressed the judges immensely. One of the judges of the competition, Syed Iftekharul Haque, senior lecturer, Department of Economics-North South University, admitted that he was pleasantly surprised by the participants' courage. In his words, "When I was your age, I could never have performed so well as you did, and in presence of such a large audience."
Unfortunately, several roads all over Dhaka being barricaded resulted in the inability of the speakers of the plenary discussion and experts' dialogue to reach the venue. The plenary discussion was postponed to a later date, whereas the experts' dialogue session had to be cancelled.
Following this unpredictable turn of events, Young Economists' Forum had to shift the closing ceremony of the event ahead. The closing ceremony, during which the winners of the Speakonomics Senior and Junior competitions were announced, took place at half past five o'clock in the afternoon. The third best paper award for Speakonomics Junior went to Kh Shafin Farhan from Ideal School and College, who, in a surprise reveal by the authorities of North South University, received Tk 10,000 as prize money. The second best paper award went to Maeisha Zahir from Sir John Wilson's School, who received a monetary prize of Tk 20,000. The best paper award for Speakonomics Junior went to Yaman Karim from Scholastica, who won Tk 30,000 as prize money. Mr. Karim is a second-time competitor in EconFest and won the second best paper award in the previous installment of the event.
For Speakonomics Senior, the third best paper award went to Mohammed Tahmid, from BUET, who received Tk 10,000 as prize money. The second best paper award went to Syeda Adiba Arif from IBA, Dhaka University, who received Tk 20, 000 as prize money. Ayesha Ahmed, from the University of Dhaka, won the best paper award for Speakonomics Senior, receiving the monetary prize of Tk 40,000. The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Muntasir Mamun Iqbal, faculty advisor of YEF, during which he highlighted the relevance of the theme of the event. He also elaborated on the importance of exposing school students to the economic and political concerns of our nation, and the role of EconFest in that respect.
Associate sponsors for the event EconFest 4.0 were Novoair. Print media partner was the Daily Jonokontho. The Financial Express was the youth engagement partner. Photography partner was Dream Merchant; their broadcast partner was Channel i, and the radio partner for the event was Radio Today 89.6 FM.
The writer is a student at North South University and team leader of Academic Practices at Young Economists' Forum (YEF). She can be reached at [email protected]
