Daily Times

I am a fresh graduate from one of the renowned academic institutes in Pakistan. Being a micro unit of youth bulk, with which the world, day in day out, congratulates Pakistan in terms of “demographic dividend”, through this piece of writing, I, as a representative of all those youth who are fresh graduates, especially graduates of Social Sciences, want to highlight what it means to be a graduate in Pakistan. Excuse me if I claim to being a representative of youth, partly because some of my views might not resonate with the whole youth, but if through this passage one third of youth’s issue is reflected then, I think, the effort of writing the passage would not be meaningless.

In Pakistan, what I have observed, education is not attained for the sake of education rather essence of education has been constructed by society in getting a lucrative job. If, with a modicum of fortune, one is a student of Social Sciences at a quality institute, and, fortunately, one gets interested in one’s field of study, one can enjoy cocoon of idealistic world of one’s subject while one has not completed academics and while one is in the company of those who have devoted their lives to the subject in which one is interested, but as soon as one is awarded with a degree, then a torrent of expectations start pouring from every nook and cranny of the society, one has to get a job.

A bulk of graduates compromise on their studies for petty jobs. As a graduate, it is very hard to reconcile the force of chasing dreams in academics and the pressure of finding job. By not giving space to fresh graduates to ripen in their chosen fields, I think, our society is promoting culture of intellectual suicide. Because of our graduates’ mania with jobs, most of them have no objectives in their lives. They go for every job and in a fake manner pretend in the job interview, if they qualify the job test, that they had always aspired to be a part of the job. Their approach towards success in life gets limited to shortcuts. Their understanding of issues in society is very poor, thus making them unable to contribute towards its solution in a constructive way.

The other day, I was watching a TED talk in which how to attain essence of education was very eloquently illustrated. According to the talk, the very essence of education lies in its organic outlook in which, a student, just like a seed, is sown in a soil, and, then, provided with all the basic ingredients for growth, is allowed to grow in its own way. In our part of the world, a seed, if sown, in other words a student if admitted in an academic institute, unfortunately, first of all, does not get all basic ingredients, as is reflective from shambolic state of education in Pakistan, and, if fortunately, a seed gets basic ingredients required for growth, in other words, a student gets a chance to attain quality education, then the seed is dictated how to grow.

As a graduate, how to reconcile idealistic world of academics with realistic world becomes a daunting task here, not because turning one’s ideas into reality is nerve testing, as is universally acknowledged fact, but because of the fact that one has to go on such an adventure in our part of the world all alone. Graduates are a very sensitive lot. They are caught between idealism and realism. They need proper guidance and a lot of care. If they are properly catered, they can turn into an asset for the society. For me, education should have one of its facets in the form of job but overshadowing essence of education with job is a bit shortchanged transaction with essence of education. Perhaps this is the message that every graduate, aspiring to do something unique, wants to convey to the society here in Pakistan.

The blogger is a graduate in Social Sciences from Government College University, Lahore. He can be reached at uinam39@gmail.com