'Youngsters have limited knowledge based profession ambitions, unaware of market’

[Naveed Yaseen]

Saadia Khalid
Young people in Pakistan are in dire need of counselling to make them aware about enlightened choices regarding taking up different fields and careers according to their aptitudes and market demands, said FAST University Rector Dr. Amir Muhammad.

Pointing out various opportunities available in the job market, he said that parents and youth themselves get caught in ‘limited knowledge based ambitions’ and remain unaware of the actual trends prevailing in the market as far as jobs are concerned.

Dr. Amir Muhammad expressed these views in an interview with ‘The News.’

He emphasised on various aspects of career counseling. It is not only young people who require career counselling but their parents as well, as they often force their children to opt for a particular field without realising its future demand.

“Education expos held all over the country for students and fresh graduates undoubtedly help them in seeing the total education scenario that enables them in taking a wiser decision regarding their careers,” he said. He added that expos also provide them an opportunity to go through the whole spectrum of opportunities in a minimum timeframe that otherwise takes a lot of time and hassle.

Highlighting the importance of social sciences in nation-building, Dr. Amir Muhammad said that it is an unfortunate fact that policy-makers, who are now facing the music, have neglected social sciences. “There are certain issues that cannot be resolved through science & technology and only social sciences hold their cure,” he said.

Upon inquiring the reason of quality education being expensive in the country, the FAST University rector said that private sector universities have no other source of funding except for fee they get from students. “Private universities can only provide free education to a limited sphere, therefore, it is the government’s responsibility to formulise a strategy to provide economical and quality education to every student in the country to achieve excellence in different walks of life,” he said.

He said that the FAST University has an annual grant of Rs40 million as ‘Qarz-e-Hasna’ under which free education is provided to bright and eligible students. He quoted a recent example when former minister for science & technology Owais Ahmed Laghari asked the university to admit students from rural areas, whose fees would be paid by the government. “Hundreds of students were given admissions and they were not only provided with formal education but also went through the whole process of personality grooming,” he said. He added that unfortunately this process could not be continued for a longer period of time due to some reservations by the government.

Dr. Amir Muhammad said that the responsibility of any educational institution is not only to impart formal education but also to groom the personality of its students by teaching them the traits of discipline and hard work that are the necessary ingredients of success.

He said that quality primary education, complemented with a favourable learning environment, is a must for any person to excel in higher education and ultimately in life. “Spending billions on higher education is useless if the foundation, which is primary education, is not strong,” he asserted. He stressed on the need for restructuring of primary education system in order to show young people the right direction from the very beginning so that they could play a constructive role in the progress and stability of the country.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=184091