The Balochistan government has approved the Rs1.850 billion Ba-Ikhtiyar Naujwan Internship Program fully funded by the World Bank, according to WealthPK. Balochistan, the largest province in Pakistan by area, lags behind the other provinces in socio-economic development. The project, according to the working paper, will ensure economic empowerment of Balochistan’s youth and is part of the plan to award 60,000 paid internships to young graduates across Pakistan. Despite lengthy stints at educational institutions, gaps remain among young graduates in terms of marketable skills and practical experience. This hinders their access to the job market and contributes to their high unemployment rate. The internship program is breaking these barriers for young graduates by equipping them with the requisite skills through off-job and on-job training, and providing them with the work experience they require for entering the job market.

With the ongoing constant shift in the job market dynamics, career counselling should be made an integral part of society, particularly in developing countries, as they have lost their sense of direction in such a dense era of transformation and evolution, the paper said. Career counselling lays down the basic infrastructure of society on which the country’s economic growth is heavily dependent. It is a crucial factor for the prosperity of a state. The current scenario in Balochistan is also relevant in this regard, as many young people lack direction and goals in life, which exposes them to the risk of joining insurgencies.

The rest of them pursue medicine or engineering degrees, which have become an unhealthy fixation driven by social pressure. This shows the market mismatch problem that plagues the province. The youth are jobless because they cannot adapt to the fast-changing job market and because the education system does not equip them with the necessary skills. There is a lack of awareness in this region. With limited knowledge in this regard, the students fail to express their interests and are eventually left with only one option: to follow the suggestions of their elders. This way, the students that work in such areas show no motivation or lack of interest, which affects their performance and compromises their output. Therefore, it is imperative for the students to be given a platform to understand their areas of interest and align them with their career paths.

Academic education in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, does not prepare the students for professional life. They focus on academic performance but fail to acquire the skills required in the job market. It is one of the greatest failures of the country’s educational institutions, which do not engage or train the youth for the market.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)