Skilled workers are crucial for economic growth. Since Pakistan has a huge youth population, skilled workers can benefit the economy.
Substantial share in employment opportunities, sustainable economic growth and social development is closely linked with human resource development, market-oriented professional skills, relevant-to-industry technical education, and vocational training in the highly competitive environment.
Human resource development improves economic growth and productivity as the socioeconomic development is not possible without catering the bulging youth of the country with skill development programs. Therefore, the promotion of technical education and Information Technology has become imperative for sustainable economic growth, job opportunities and high volume of remittances. The global as well as the regional markets hire only skilled resource persons who can run factories, companies and industries.
No one can deny the importance of skilled workforce as both locally and globally they play a vital role in boosting the economy. The full-fledged and large scale technical education programmes can multiply remittances by creating a promising skilled workforce. The demand of IT experts, advanced digital skills, and trained resource persons have been increased manifold.
Pakistan, the fifth largest young country on map of the world with more than 63 percent population comprised of youth aged between 15 and 33 has no other choice but to utilize the untapped potential of the youngsters. The demographic power is the major driving force for economic growth and substantial social progress. The country has not yet fully utilized the potential of the youth. Instead of sending hard labors abroad, if Pakistan could dispatch skilled labor, the remittances would be doubled.
The workforce has slowly recognized that importance of technical education as it is linked with better chances of employ-ability and higher economic rewards. Skilled labor and knowledge-based economy can accelerate economic growth and social development through entrepreneurship and industrialization. The Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) sector can create the possibility of strong careers for the youth in national and global markets.
Only linking education with industry and training individuals with demand-driven skills as per the market needs would make them able to make valuable contribution to the economy and society at large. With the required skills and professional training, the skilled resource persons can fully explore both the domestic and international markets.
According to the available data, the country has no choice but to generate additional employment opportunities (at least 1.3 million per year) for the next five years to cope with rising ratio of unemployment. It is only possible to equip students with technical education and entrepreneurial skills right from the beginning as part of the curriculum. The future of the country lies in the hands of the youth and there is a dire need to invest in them to grow their skills, knowledge, and capacity to cope with the 21st century challenges.
Talking to APP news agency, Joint Director of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) said, “The lack of quality workforce in Pakistan has caused higher ratio of unemployment in the country.” The bulging youth of the country is in dire need of market-oriented skills, cutting-edge technology, professional trainings, innovative approaches, paradigm shift and updated knowledge to cope with the rising issue of unemployment. “Most of the skills taught in our professional institutions are obsolete and outdated”, the PIDE Joint Director added.
