Daily Times

The 1973 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan says that; “the state shall be responsible for the eradication of illiteracy and provision of free and compulsory education up to secondary level, within minimum possible time” (Article 37-B, 1973 Constitution of Pakistan). Then Article 25A — Right to Education — of the Constitution says that “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 5 to 16 years in such manner as may be determined by law.”

Pakistan is also among countries who have signed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).  The fourth goal of SDG relates to quality education and lifelong learning. Various levels and dimensions of monitoring frameworks have been defined to monitor the SDG-4 at a national and global level.

Currently, Pakistan has a total of 172 universities out of which 101 are public while 71 are private. As per the available statistics of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, during 2015-16, a total of 1.39 million students enrolled in the universities of Pakistan out of which 0.63 million (45.4 percent) were female, and 0.76 million (54.6percent) were male, while education, humanities, and management sciences were the most preferred subjects.

City and Regional Planning, Urban Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Design and Manufacturing, Geo-informatics, Building and Architectural Engineering, Water Resources Engineering and Disaster Mitigation and Reconstruction are the least enrolled in subjects out of the available pool in Pakistani universities. The importance of these subjects cannot be underestimated in Pakistan. Therefore, there is a great need to increase the graduates of these disciplines.

Unemployment rate has remained stagnant at 5.90 percent between 2015 and 2016. In light of the existing scenario, the industry needs to be linked with academic institutions

The foremost problem the world is facing today is unemployment, and one major cause is a gap between academia and the job market. The number of unemployed persons globally in 2017 was forecasted to cross 201 million — with a further expected rise of 2.7 million in 2018 — according to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO)trends,2017. The country director of the United Nations Development Programme believes Pakistan needs 1.5 million jobs per year to provide decent work opportunities to the increasing number of youth entering the work force.

Unemployment rate in Pakistan remained stagnant at 5.90 percent between 2015 and 2016.In light of the existing scenario, as discussed above, the industry needs to be linked with academic institutions. Furthermore, a complete MIS/database is needed to be created with updated information of available jobs as per the market demand, while on the other hand, an MIS with updated information of students enrolled in academic institutions is also required.

Currently, the world’s economy is taking a 360 degrees shift from the manufacturing sector to the service sector with hoteling and tourism topping the list. However, unfortunately, Pakistan is far behind in these sectors.

At the same time, CPEC is a mega intervention worth $59bn. There is a great need to research the human resource requirements of the CPEC, and the academia should plan accordingly. According to the Planning Commission, approximately 700,000 to 800,000 jobs will be created between 2015 and 2030. A Chinese daily Global Times reported a 2.32 million cut in the unemployment figures, in Pakistan within the next two years.

Under the early harvest projects, according to China’s Ambassador to Pakistan, 13,000 jobs have been created in Pakistan during the implementation stage of 18 different projects. According to the latest number released by the Planning Commission, 30,000 locals have been hired for various projects under CPEC. The Nine Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being prioritised under CPEC, are another avenue to increase job opportunities. According to Professor Justin Yifu Lin, Chinese industries are interested in relocating to Pakistan, especially to populate prioritised SEZs. This relocation will bring 85 million jobs for the Pakistanis along with a structural transformation of the economy.

Research on human capital is the biggest missing link. A comprehensive research study is needed to find the exact demand of the job market with a special focus on CPEC as it will be very helpful for the academia to make effective plans according to that demand. In this perspective, a well thought out plan is a must to achieve long-term economic gains. Furthermore, Balochistan is a very important stakeholder within CPEC. Academic institutions with the best quality of education need to be established in the province. Education of both male and female students of this province is necessary for balanced country-wide development.

The writer can be reached at atta786innovation@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, August 2^nd 2018.