By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday said Pakistan’s youth bulge had a high potential of contributing to the country’s economic growth and stressed the importance of also mainstreaming women to ensure the development of the country.
Addressing here at the first convocation of Muslim Youth University, the president said unless women were not made equal partners in economic struggle, the country could not witness real prosperity.
He emphasized creating public spaces for women to ensure their emancipation and empowerment.
The president also urged providing opportunities to women in the domain of online, e-business and part-time jobs to keep them intact with their professions.
He said immense openings were available for youth in the shape of Kamyab Jawan programme and other financial assistance schemes offered by banks.
He called upon the graduates to benefit from these opportunities and excel in their professional fields.
Dr Alvi emphasized upon the graduates to demonstrate honesty, integrity, and empathy in their lives, adding that knowledge without humanity had no significance.
He said the world was ignoring the norms of humanity by closing its doors upon migrants, however mentioned that Pakistan in line with the morals of empathy remained steadfast in hosting the refugees from Afghanistan for decades.
The president gave away medals to the graduates who attained positions in their respective disciplines.
Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi Friday advised the youth to equip themselves with the skillset enabling them to benefit from the massive available opportunities in all sectors.
The president, addressing the first-ever Career Guide Expo 2022 held by the Ministry of Federal Education, said there were huge opportunities available in all the fields, and the developments like the entry of Amazon in Pakistan had opened up avenues for aspiring businessmen.
The three-day Expo features one-on-one counseling, a career guide seminar, over 30 stalls set up by local and international organizations, a book fair, scholarship pavilion, and ideas exhibition.
The president said that being a 19 times smaller country than Pakistan, the Netherlands had emerged as the world’s second-largest food exporter just by utilizing modern technologies in agriculture.
The president, who earlier took a round of stalls set up by HEC, PTCL, Oxford University Press, OGDCL, Pakistan Navy and other organizations, thanked the education ministry for providing a rare opportunity to the students which should be expanded across the country.
He asked the youth to go into the fields based on the market needs as well as their own aptitude, advising them to never show prejudices to the knowledge coming from others.
Besides improving their communication skills, the president said it was also equally essential to earn a repute of trustworthiness as corruption had termited the country.
The president said in absence of market analysis in the past, the country had produced doctors even beyond the market requirement which led to the brain drain owing to the lack of jobs.
He said currently, the world faced a dearth of human capital as around 80 million people were needed just for cyber security. In this context, Pakistan has a huge advantage for its huge bulge as the world was also looking at the country for quality human capital.
He said the information technology had enabled the girls to run their businesses while being at home.
He told the gathering of students hailing from across the country that Facebook had been given a target to train 100,000 girls this year to enable them market their products to international buyers.
President Alvi also cautioned the youth about the phenomenon of fake news which, according to the latest study, mostly impacted the children of up to 14 years age.
Exemplifying young Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and Indian Muslim girl Muskan Khan for her courage to protect her right of wearing Hijab, the president advised the girls to contribute to the national development after getting education, instead of sitting at home.
Secretary Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training Naheed Durrani said contrary to the past, the children in the current era required constant support and counseling to make them opt a career.
She said the events like the Expo were inevitable for the youth to provide them opportunities for asking questions and remove their suspicions about the particular fields they wanted to join and also boost their confidence.
Advising the students to give a special focus on technical skills, the federal secretary said while entering the practical life, the youths should also consider their soft skills.
Additional Secretary of the ministry Mohiyuddin Wani said it was for the first time that the local and international professional organizations had been brought at one platform for career guidance of the youth.
He said the prominent speakers would also address the event to share their experiences and guide the youngsters on their career planning.
