Let’s dream together
Dr. Zubair Iqbal
Imagine a Pakistan where chambers of commerce run national apprenticeship programs, where government innovation funds back student startups in agritech and fintech, where industry councils regularly update curricula to match global market needs, and where the academia produce world class skilled workers. In such a system, graduates would not wait for jobs; they would create them. Skills would not be wasted; they would be multiplied. Accreditation would not be a hollow stamp; it would be the passport to opportunity.
This is not utopia — it is the lived reality of Germany, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Pakistan must choose whether to remain trapped in supply side rhetoric or to embrace a demand driven revolution that can transform its youth into engines of prosperity. I think both sides are equally important and I have been talking expansively on it. This piece focuses on the demand side.
To be fair, lets glance at the supply side. Academia in Pakistan has not done its part in many ways. The TVET sector, in particular. Accreditation is patchy, curricula outdated, and industry linkages weak. Having said that, an equal failure lies in the demand side. Industry and the governments have stood too long as silent receivers, waiting for skills to arrive at their doorstep. They must rise — not as passive absorbers, but as active partners, investors, and co designers of the future.
I am going to expand the canvas and supporting my argument from global examples which can be emulated. Germany absorbs 1.3 million apprentices every year. Singapore invests SGD 2.5 billion in innovation funds. The United States boasts a 93 percent employment rate for co op graduates. Yet in Pakistan, nearly 30 percent of graduates remain under or unemployed, clutching degrees that too often fail to translate into opportunity. These numbers are not mere statistics; they are a mirror reflecting our challenge. As one African Union report warned: “Degrees without demand are promises unfulfilled.”
At macro level, the lesson from Germany is clear. Accredited vocational schools guarantee quality, but it is industry chambers that certify apprenticeships and guarantee jobs for over a million apprentices annually. Government ministries co finance training, while the High Tech Gründerfonds has invested in more than seven hundred startups emerging from universities. As the German Ministry of Education declares: “The dual system is a national compact between schools, firms, and the state.”
Singapore offers another model. SkillsFuture credits ensure lifelong learning quality, but the real strength lies in industry councils defining manpower needs and government underwriting innovation. In 2024, Enterprise Singapore invested SGD 2.5 billion in innovation funds. The Ministry of Trade and Industry insists: “SkillsFuture is not just training; it is a national innovation pipeline.”
At micro level, there are many examples to explore. In the United States, for example, Northeastern University’s co op model delivers a ninety three percent employment rate for graduates. Employers shape curricula, venture capital raises billions, and federal agencies stabilize the system. Stanford’s StartX accelerator alone has supported more than seven hundred ventures, raising eight billion dollars. As one study observed: “Universities are no longer ivory towers; they are venture ecosystems supported by federal policy.”
The United Kingdom demonstrates how apprenticeships, regulated by Ofqual, are tied to industry advisory boards and corporate venture arms. In 2024 alone, seven hundred and forty thousand apprenticeships were launched, supported by Innovate UK and the Department for Education. Apprenticeships must be tied to innovation capital and public policy to sustain competitiveness.
Pakistan cannot afford to remain supply heavy and demand light. Accreditation is necessary, but insufficient. Industry councils must co own curricula, define manpower needs, and provide apprenticeships. Government must fund innovation and accreditation bodies, while institutionalizing venture capital to scale student and faculty innovations into enterprises. The global economy is hungry for electricians, welders, IT support staff, hospitality professionals, and healthcare technicians. Pakistani youth master these trades, yet remain locked out of opportunity because their qualifications lack recognition and their pathways lack demand side absorption.
The Industry – the Chambers as their representatives – must shed the role of passive receiver. They cannot simply wait for graduates to arrive at its doorstep. They should endevour to extend support to academia through advisory boards, internships, apprenticeships, and curriculum co design. They can also support in venture capital, investing in student and faculty innovations that can be scaled into enterprises. Globally, corporate venture arms — Google Ventures, Siemens Next47, BP Ventures — have shown how industry capital can accelerate innovation. Pakistan’s corporate sector must follow suit, not only absorbing skills but financing their transformation into startups.
Globally, corporate venture arms have become engines of innovation. Siemens Next47, BP Ventures, and Google Ventures have all invested millions in startups emerging from universities. Pakistan’s corporate sector must follow suit. Imagine chambers of commerce pooling resources into a national venture fund that backs student innovations in renewable energy, fintech, or agritech. Such investment would not only absorb skills but multiply them, turning graduates into entrepreneurs and job creators rather than job seekers.
On a tangent, governments must act as the stabilizer. They can establish and fund accreditation bodies to ensure quality, underwrite innovation funds to ensure continuity, and legislate policies that bind industry and academia together. Without government, the helix collapses. Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry calls SkillsFuture “a national innovation pipeline.” Germany’s federal ministries describe the dual system as “a national compact.” Pakistan’s government must adopt the same language — and the same responsibility.
Pakistan’s cliched potential is huge. Our IT exports crossed $3 billion in 2025, yet the sector still complains of a shortage of job ready graduates. Construction firms import skilled labor from abroad while local youth remain unemployed. Hospitality and healthcare industries struggle to find certified technicians. These examples show that the demand side is not abstract — it is painfully real. Industry councils must step in to define manpower needs and co design curricula so that graduates are not trained for jobs that do not exist, but for opportunities that are waiting to be filled.
The cost of inaction is monumental and increasing. Every year, Pakistan adds nearly two million young people to its labor force. If industry and government continue to act as passive receivers, the result will be a demographic disaster: frustration, brain drain, and wasted potential. As one South Asian policy paper warned, “Unabsorbed youth are not just unemployed; they are disillusioned citizens.” The demand side must therefore be seen not only as an economic necessity but as a national security imperative. Skills without pathways create instability; demand creates dignity.
Skills without demand are silent victories. Accreditation without absorption is a hollow triumph. Pakistan must stop speaking only of supply. We must demand that industry councils, government policy, and venture capital complete the helix. The academy has faltered, but the demand side can redeem the system. Industry must rise as partner and investor. Government must rise as stabilizer and funder. For only when supply and demand converge — only when quality meets opportunity — will Pakistan’s skills become not paper promises, but global passports to prosperity.
—The author is the senior fellow Advance HE, UK and Vice Chancellor B. Z. University.
