Daily Times

Sir: Pakistan is a young country, and therefore has immense potential for economic growth. But for that, we would need to harvest the potential of our youth, and that unfortunately has not been done over the years.

The very first step in doing so is improving our education system, which is in terrible shape. If we cannot educate our youth to even Class 8, we cannot hope to achieve any real progress. And we not only need to enrol students, but also retain students (we have a ridiculously high dropout rate).
Coupled with education, we also need excellent centres for vocational training. We are not a very large or thriving economy, but we can become one if we encourage our people to refine their skills, train them to make their own living and set up their own businesses, and in general cultivate an environment conducive to entrepreneurship. Without such a spirit and environment, we will remain backward.
This is not a suggestion out of the blue; such vocational centres have been established in places like Balochistan and have been very successful in training people and helping them towards success. More such programmes need to be introduced, as we have a great need for people in the industrial and agricultural sectors to introduce new thinking and new techniques. One hopes the government will work on this issue.
SHABBIR AHMED
Karachi