Ayesha Saba

 The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives is implementing a number of development initiatives to empower the youth and maximize their employment prospects, reports WealthPK.

A research officer of the Youth Affairs section of the planning ministry, who wished not to be quoted, told WealthPK, “Pakistan Vision 2025 aims to channelize and streamline the energies of the country’s large youth population and to realize their immense digital potential to create an innovative and entrepreneurial knowledge-based industry.”

In this regard, he said the current government was planning to approve establishment of 250 vocational training institutes all over the country on 50% sharing basis with the provinces for skill development of the youth.

“This kind of educational system might be quite advantageous for emerging nations like Pakistan. Small-scale institutions that can provide quality training in the form of a diploma can be set up at a lesser cost than a university. These can be scaled up in the smaller towns of Pakistan rather than in expensive large cities. The existing facilities of schools can be utilized or upgraded for a range of courses.”

“In the projects funded by the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), 20,000 young engineers will be employed as interns to improve their skills and employability. The young graduates will receive paid on-the-job training in various fields under the program,” he said.

He said, “the Pakistani students are provided with master's and PhD degrees from top 50 universities worldwide through the National Top Talent Scholarships Programme. A total of Rs4.7 billion has been allocated for the project, which encourages and prepares talented students from low-income families who aspire for higher education but are unable to apply for the top universities due to financial constraints.”

“Pakistan Innovation Fund will also be established under the PSDP 2022-23 for which Rs10 billion has been allocated. The objectives of the project is to prepare a framework for an effective innovation policy for the country, including the identification of factors that lead to positive and effective innovative regulatory processes.”

“This young population can improve the country's industrial productivity, competitiveness, domestic production, and exports as well as greatly increase the inflows of overseas remittances if trained and skilled persons participate in domestic and international skilled labour markets,” said the planning and development ministry official.

According to Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, “Pakistan's progress and survival lie in the development of its youth because they represent a large percentage of our population, so we must expand these initiatives to equip the young minds with the modern education and skills. The only way to turn our youth bulge from a liability to an asset is to privatize the state investment in them’’.  

Pakistan is considered to be the fifth-largest young country in the world, and compared with Japan, the United States, South Korea, and other developed countries, it is a unique advantage of this country. Around 63 percent of Pakistan’s population are youth aged between 15 and 33.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk