IT is quoted often that Pakistan has a “youth bulge”. By some estimates, 60-65 percent of the population of Pakistan is under 30 years, and 45-50 percent is under twenty, which makes the later population around 120 million. If our under 20 youth were a country, it would be the 12th largest country in the world, equivalent to Japan. Imagine that!
Pakistan’s youth bulge is an unfathomable asset, but unfortunately underutilized. We hear about the youth of Pakistan in the context of “IT sector jobs”, “brain drain” and “leaving the country”. Infrequently, we also hear about initiatives such as laptop distribution to facilitate employment, or scholarship and internship programs by HEC, Ehsaas, etc. Most of these efforts are well meaning, but the beneficiaries account for less than 100,000 youth – clearly a drop in bucket.
To capitalize on the youth potential of Pakistan, we need a systematic approach to qualify, train and facilitate the youth and make them the backbone for growth of Pakistan. The approach requires the following components: 1) Analysis of the markets for the youth. 2) Education and/or skills required to qualify them for the markets. 3) Identification of sectors of employability. 4) Provision of soft skills and targeted language training
First, analysis of the market for the youth has two components; international and domestic. For the youth to participate in the international market, we need to stop worrying about “brain drain” but rather consider it “brain gain”. After all, it was the Indian youth that went overseas which made investment in India decades later which led to the rise of IT and other industries. They also became influential in political circles, PMs and CEOs, and contributed to a pro-India bias. Can Pakistan afford to forego similar influence in the world? Out of a youth population of 120 million, can we not afford to send a few million overseas to support Pakistan, through influence peddling and the much needed remittances?
Furthermore, we need to shift focus to markets where our youth can have better opportunity. Pakistan needs to look eastward and look at markets which have dire need for youth since they are in negative population growth. Markets such as Japan and South Korea top the list. And these countries will offer better treatment and opportunities for our youth.
We also need to analyze the domestic market and the various areas (sectors) of growth where our youth can be provided opportunity. A focused education and skills analysis needs to be done; not an academic and all-encompassing assessment which loses the forest from the trees, but one focused on 4-5 sectors and the skills required by them. In later phases, we can add more sectors and skills.
Second, when it comes to education and skills, we need to focus separately on each. For higher education opportunities, our youth is severely disadvantaged. Arguably, Pakistan has between 220 – 250 universities. In contract, for smaller population of youth, Indonesia and the USA have 3300 and 3200 universities respectively. We need to provide our youth with higher education opportunities, at par with their counterparts. That is, we need to set up quality universities at an exponential rate.
In the skills arena, we need to identify the markets of growth domestically and internationally, and provide skills to our youth to cater to these markets. The government-run TEVTAs need to be revamped and upgraded, but more importantly, private sector initiatives have to be encouraged and given incentives to scale up. Training schools like College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (COTHM) need to be incentivized for scaling up to cater to millions of youth, rather than the current 20,000 students.
Third, preparing youth with a focus on sector focused skills is critical and Pakistan needs to identify such sectors. We need to shift focus from low skilled labour being exported to the Middle East, and create better opportunities for the youth. For instance; opportunity lies in nursing and elderly care; Pakistan is short of 1 million nurses. USA requires 220,000 nurses in the next decade. Japan needs increasing number of nursing home support due to an aging population. Supplying 100,000 nurses and elderly care specialists to these countries (starting salary of USD 80,000/year) would generate USD 8 billion.
Similar opportunities lie in IT industry. Not just software and programming, but network management, security and back-end office support. Cisco networking academy program is a 9 month course for a high school graduate, and starting salary in the world market is at $60,000/year. Imagine if Pakistan can certify and place 50000 youth in the next 5 years, they would generate USD 3 billion in income. Furthermore, requirements are increasing for hospitality workers, pilots, doctors, food processing specialists, domestic workers, heavy machinery operators, gardeners, etc. The potential is endless for the youth, government focus is needed.
Finally, our youth needs to be imparted soft skills and language training. One cannot argue about the benefits of training on timeliness, professionalism, proper attire, hygiene and attitude, etc. Add to these trainings specific language and cultural sensitivity training focused for the country where they will be going, and our youth will have an edge. Rather than Chinese and Turkish language training where our youth will never be in demand, let us focus on Japanese and Korean, and other such markets. If Pakistan seriously implements a youth focused approach as an engine for economic growth, it can prosper and achieve its rightful place in the world community.
—The writer is a former Senior Advisor to the Government and a sector development specialist. He is an active promoter of Pakistan in the world.
