Daily Times

Pakistan is currently at face with economic void. The budget for fiscal year 2018-2019, which PTI presented a few months before,has brought into spotlight all the economic challenges that Pakistan has to battle against in the coming years. As per the budget presented, the country’s total debt and liabilities have reached Rs31, 000 billion during the last ten years. Foreign debt and liabilities are around $97 billion. The country’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen from $18 billion to less than $10 billion. And, the current account deficit between income and expenditure has reached $ 20 million.

To make a way out of economic quagmire, PTI government has made a gigantic target of Rs 5,555 billion revenue collection via taxes and imposed controls on expenditure with the aim of lowering primary deficit to 0.6% of GDP. It is important to mention here that this reactive approach on the part of the government to bring stability in the economy can pay off in short time; however, the prospects of getting stability in the economy for a long term are slim with this approach. The government needs to proactively approach issues of economy. One of them can be bridging the gap between academia and market and engaging universities in providing a skilled lot to the market.

Each year, universities across Pakistan churn out graduates into the market in thousands. Keeping in view the investment made on education at universities for intellectual growth which a small section of our society affords in Pakistan, it’s expected that the lot graduating from universities will turn out to be intellectual elites of the society in their respective fields and will come up with unique ideas to find a solution to perennial issues of the society-be it in political, social or economic sphere. However, this is not the case.

Having recently graduated from university and after exploring the market in different capacities, I can say from my personal experience that there is a huge gap between what is taught to students of social sciences in particular and other students in general in universities and how the job market works. Students in our universities are kept under illusion that their intellectual competence verified by university degree through particular evaluation criteria in the likes of GPAs can make them navigate successfully in the job market. However, the job market, this is something I can testify from personal experience, does not look for GPAs rather it’s in need of skills which are hardly imparted to students while they are pursuing university degrees. What makes it more deplorable is that students have no clarity about where to get trained for applying theoretical conceptions of their subjects and how to pursue their disciplines in a way that not only makes them financially sound but also enables them to contribute to the society at large.

There is no gainsaying the fact that engaging universities in turning youth to economic dividend through imparting skilled based education can turn out to be a long lasting solution for economic dilemmas of Pakistan

Unfortunately, in our universities, a culture of complacency prevails. Exceptions apart but in majority of the universities both teachers and students interact in mechanical ways with no one pushing the other for getting out of the comfort zone and going for something new. Students’ understanding of their disciplines remains confined to conceptions and they hardly have any idea how they can customize their conceptions as per the needs of the market especially if we talk about students of social sciences.

Complacency nurtured among students in universities reflects itself in their approach to job market as well. Majority of the students hardly explore new avenues for jobs and hunt jobs by following popular bandwagons that is to fit in government jobs. One thing I have closely observed and that is like consciously or unconsciously students get a message from the society at largethat their secure future lies in government jobs. And majority of the graduates you come across in Pakistani universities crazily try to fit in the government jobs post-graduation. Now, I am not advocating anything here against government jobs and a chunk of students want to join government jobs in their respective fields because they really want to serve Pakistan and they do excel in their fields. However, a major chunk of students want to join government jobs in any field irrespective of their academic disciplines because of popular narrativewhich saysthat if you join government jobs, it does not matter whether you professionally perform or don’t perform, you will be paid. In other words, complacency in government jobs- and unfortunately it’s a bitter reality that government departments in Pakistan don’t offer a lot to its employees for professional growth, has slack office environment and almost everybody can testify to this fact who has visited any government office for any service- inspire students’ approach towards jobs.

The other problem with the obsession of students with government jobs is that, I think, they are pitching themselves in the job market in a limited scope. After graduation, majority of the students, and this is especially about students of social sciences, take a bid on joining government jobs and spend three or four years in qualifying those exams. Not all of them qualify. Some among them get a chance to join government jobs. Unfortunately, recruitment in government jobs is mainly defined by how much a candidate has information about a particular field which is reflective from MCQs test that students take. Skills hardly count.Majority of students, who don’t qualify those test, put themselves on hold for years without any skills through their experiences in the job market and have no idea how the job market works and what are the skills they need to polish in order to adjust in the job market. The point is no market skills are imparted to students in the universities and their approach towards jobs in the market lack innovation. It takes a long time for students to understand the nature of the market and most of them fail to fit in the market because of lack of skills and chasing the job market in a limited way.

Stephane Kasriel, who is the CEO of Upwork, recently wrote an article about the changing nature job markets across the globe. In his article entitled “The future of work won’t be about college degrees, it will be about job skills”, he writes,”Yet too often, degrees are still thought of as lifelong stamps of professional competency. They tend to create a false sense of security, perpetuating the illusion that work – and the knowledge it requires – is static. It’s not.” He predicts,”The future of work won’t be about degrees. More and more, it’ll be about skills. And no one school, whether it be Harvard, General Assembly or Udacity, can ever insulate us from the unpredictability of technological progression and disruption.”

Keeping in view the vortex of economic crisis which has gripped the government and which has made it difficult for the government to cater to its potential demographic dividend, youth, in near future with enough jobs, it is necessary that government engages universities in a proactive way to stabilize Pakistan’s economy. Similarly, universities need to catch up with technological revolution around the globe and need to equip students with skills through which they can create job opportunities for themselves. There is no gainsaying the fact that engaging universities in turning youth to economic dividend through imparting skilled based education can turn out to be a long lasting solution for economic dilemmas of Pakistan.

The writer teaches at Department of Political Science in University of Management and Technology, Lahore