67% youngsters want to leave Pakistan; 31% educated youth unemployed

Islamabad: A whopping 67 per cent youngsters in Pakistan want to leave the cash-strapped country in search of better opportunities abroad, according to a senior research economist in Islamabad.

Besidies this, as many as 31 percent of educated youth in Pakistan were without jobs, said Dr Faheem Jehangir Khan, Senior Research Economist at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Dawn reported.

Khan made the statement at a two-day festival, called EconFest, which was held for debates and discussions on Pakistan’s economy, which has been witnessing a severe crisis situation for the past couple of months.

Speaking at the event, the economist further highlighted the need to discuss issues of youngsters to find solutions.

He noted that more than 200 universities are functional in the Shehbaz Sharif-led country, which were giving degrees to thousands of students. However, a degree is not a guarantee of employment, he added.

“The employer demands skill beyond theory,” Dr Faheem Jehangir Khan said.

There is a responsibility on the teachers, but the students also have to be active and turn towards entrepreneurship, he stated, and added, “Why everybody wants a job, why can’t you be entrepreneurship?”

From 62 per cent to 67 per cent

A previous survey by the institute found that the desire to leave Pakistan was most prominent in young people, aged 15 to 24. It stated that at least 62 percent of the youngsters have indicated that they wish to leave the country.

It put economic reasons as the most prevalent for leaving Pakistan, besides the other motivations like equal opportunity and more respect.

Meanwhile, Dr Durre Nayab, while speaking at the EconFest, said there was a strange situation in Pakistan. “We interview people but don’t get the right candidates and the right candidates don’t get employment,” she stated.

She further noted that teachers were not giving the relevant education to the youth and were even repeating the same notes for their lectures every year.

Another panelist, Dr Nadeemul Haq, said Pakistan was facing a disease and the IMF tranches were of little help, Dawn reported.

Criticising the government, he noted that when they tried to promote entrepreneurship in Islamabad near Quaid-i-Azam University, the government dislodged all the small businesses and vendors.

(With inputs from agencies)

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