The young and the restless

Pakistan has more young people in its population presently than ever before in history. These findings are part of the United Nations Population Fund report that states that out of 200 million people, 63 percent of Pakistan's population comprises youth. Of these, 58.5 million are 20 -to- 24-year olds while 69 million are aged under 15 year. This puts Pakistan's youth population more than Singapore, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, and many other countries. This is called the youth bulge. Bulge has a negative connotation as it implies a distended structure that puts unhealthy pressure on the body. Presently for Pakistan this is certainly true.
The young are the most promising section of a society. They represent energy, vitality, exuberance and innovativeness. They also represent volatility, irritability and reactivity. To cope with this mercurial nature of the youth, families and society have to play a crucial role of developing their character, their skills and their behavior to a level where they are able to cope with the challenges of life. Thereafter the state is also a very important part of this youth development process. It is the state's responsibility to provide opportunities in exploring their interest and talent and then providing employment that makes them channelize their talent. How well these roles are played will determine whether this youth bulge is turned into a threat or an opportunity.
In the western world the graying of the population is a major issue as over 60 years segment is going to be almost 20% of the population. Late marriages, less than 1% birth rates are all pointing out for a demographic which is deficient in sufficient number of children and consequently youth to form a substantial segment for a consumer market. Similarly the rising power China, due to its one child policy, will be struggling to find the same vibrant economy after a few decades. This will have fundamental impact on markets and businesses as well as society. Organizations that are catering to children and youth like McDonald, Pepsi and Coke are all changing their product lines and rushing to Asian markets to capitalize on the baby boom still going on in markets like Pakistan etc. Similarly the absence of youth market is going to affect many industries like education, software, services etc. Thus, British and American Universities are opening up offices in Asian countries to attract students for their markets. Universities have started opening campuses in Middle East to attract the students who have visa for studying in USA and UK.
The ability of a nation to turn its population, especially its young population, as an advantage has been proved by India and China. These nations have worked on the skills and education of the young to make them employable for the world and for their local markets. The road to development lies in harnessing the youth to productive enterprise. This requires educating them on a competitive public school system. The three-tier education system has created an education apartheid in the children and young of Pakistan. There is this very small and very exclusive private school system that provides modern education that becomes the first preference of employers locally and internationally. Then there is this mass youth education system in public schools that is a waste at best and a torture at worst. Students coming out of this system are so far behind the modern requirements that they are unable to find worthwhile jobs. This also applies on the higher education degrees where students who do bachelors and masters cannot even write basic emails in a professional environment. Imagine that in last year's CSS exam 94% candidates failed to qualify in English language paper. The third system of education is the madrassah system that educates 2.5 million students. Their syllabus is the most antiquated and students coming out of these institutions are not fit for any professional field.
To be young and uneducated and unemployed and unoccupied is a classic recipe for creating imbalanced immoderate individuals. The sad part of this spectacle is that these young men and women are open invitations for criminals and extremists to exploit their illiteracy, their frustration, their unspent energy. This is why this huge young population is a double edged sword. An educated and skilled youth is a treasure while an ignorant and unskilled mass of young people can be a ticking time bomb. The Pakistani youth have proven time and again how talented they are and given an opportunity they beat the best in the world. From the field of science and software to the field of acting and singing Pakistanis are excelling in the world. However these are individual efforts boosted by personal effort. There may be hundreds of young men and women who are brimming with the same talent but have no opportunity to express it. When the young and creative are hampered to express their talents constructively they could be channelized destructively.
What the government needs to do is to give options to the youth on employing their talent. Germany provides options to young people for post school education or higher education or to become technically skilled. The ability of youth to be trained through the technical training institutions that Pakistan has can be an alternative for employability of the young. Pakistan is at a historic crossroad where they have the opportunity to be a market that offers young customers who are essential for industry growth and also be a supplier of talent that is creative and innovative.
The youth of today are not the youth of yesterday. They are much smarter and exposed to both good and bad. The millennials as they are known are restless and seeking constant attention and direction. If this direction is not given by social support system they will seek it on the social media and thus may be misled inadvertently. The young are normally known as rebels without a cause. If they don't get the right cause they will go for the wrong cause. It is the duty of the parents, the teachers and the state to ensure that they are not only given exposure to new skills and knowledge but also this knowledge is embedded with old values of discipline, hard work and integrity. Without the foundation of these values and the development of skills this demographic dividend may turn into a demographic nightmare.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected].)