OPINION: The worst crime: wasting Pakistan’s youth in degree factories

An open letter to the Academic Councils of the universities, Vice Chancellors, Federal and Provincial Higher Education Commissions, Departments of Education, Chief Ministers of the provinces, and other relevant authorities who can restructure and re-orient the Architecture of the faculties and departments.

This is the high time to change the whole faculty architecture of the universities from just thick paper called degree awarding institutions to skill development institutions. Degrees used to be of value before the year 2000, that is, in the 20th century; but no more.

According to recent data, Pakistan’s youth unemployment rate stands at approximately 9.86 percent for ages 15-24, with millions of graduates entering a job market where skill mismatches leave them unemployable or underemployed.

A World Bank analysis highlights that 38 percent of school-age children are out of school entirely, exacerbating the cycle of poverty and unemployment that degrees alone cannot break.

If the Vice Chancellors and other persons and institutions responsible to re-orient the universities in this age of generative artificial intelligence fail to act, they are complicit in perpetuating obsolescence.

The landscape includes AI agents, agentic AI, humanoid robots, drones, augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, extended reality simulations, 3D videos with high resolution, generative artificial intelligence, and foundation models.

Updating this, 2025 trends from the World Economic Forum emphasize emerging technologies like engineered living therapeutics, osmotic power, AI-generated content watermarking, and structural battery composites, alongside Deloitte’s insights on agentic AI and quantum computing that demand immediate curriculum integration.

• AI agents and agentic AI (autonomous, tool-using systems)

• Humanoid robots, advanced robotics and cobots (industry, services, care)

• Autonomous drones, drone swarms and uncrewed aerial systems

• Quantum computing and quantum-safe cryptography

• Edge AI and on-device intelligence (phones, sensors, vehicles)

• Spatial/XR/mixed reality and “spatial computing” platforms

• 5G-Advanced and early 6G networking (ultra-low-latency, massive IoT)

• Bioengineering and synthetic biology (gene editing, engineered cells, bio-manufacturing)

• Biotechnology and precision medicine (personalised therapies, AI drug discovery)

• Brain–computer interfaces and neurotechnology

• Renewable energy (solar, wind, green hydrogen) and grid-scale storage

• Climate and carbon tech (carbon capture, climate analytics, smart grids)

• Advanced materials (nanomaterials, 2D materials, solid-state batteries)

• Robotics in logistics, warehouses, agriculture and healthcare

• Autonomous vehicles and robotaxis (road, warehouse, ports)

• Smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 (digital twins, IoT factories)

• Web3, blockchain, DeFi and tokenization of assets

• Digital identity, verifiable credentials and privacy-preserving tech

• Cybersecurity for the AI-quantum era (zero-trust, post-quantum security, AI-driven defense)

• Space technologies (cheap launch, mega-constellations, in-orbit services, lunar missions)

• Autonomous satellites and space-based sensing for climate, security and connectivity.

Those who insist on preserving old and obsolete systems are committing a crime against the youth, against society, and against the country. With unemployment jumping by 31 percent—from 4.5 million in 2020–21 to 5.9 million in 2024–25—clinging to outdated curricula is not mere negligence; it is a direct assault on the future of 240 million people. In fact, if one factors in underemployment, the true number of wasted human potential is many times higher than these already alarming figures.

Now just think that a child born in this age has the technology in its genes. As soon as the child opens the eyes, he gets exposure to the new technologies, particularly in families that are relatively better off—as the poor people in this country have never been treated as human beings or citizens of this country.

The poor since 1947 have been denied basic human and fundamental rights in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with rulers who claim to be dignified persons, Muslims, patriots, and what not.

Multidimensional poverty affects 39 percent of Pakistanis, limiting access to education and health, while 24 percent live below the national poverty line, trapping generations in cycles of deprivation.

Now, consider the average child in Pakistan: studies reveal that early exposure to mobile internet significantly enhances cognitive performance among children aged 5–16, enabling better problem-solving and academic outcomes in everyday settings.

For instance, in Gilgit-Baltistan and urban areas, children with access to technological gadgets during the COVID-19 pandemic showed improved language acquisition and educational engagement through simple tools like educational apps and videos, with 90 percent reporting gains in basic concepts such as alphabets, numbers, and shapes from digital media.

These young minds thrive on early tech exposure, but ignoring the masses—where the digital divide leaves 26 million out-of-school children without basic connectivity or devices—means partnering with the criminals who have deprived the majority of the people from their fundamental rights.

However, the families which are better off enjoy the environment of technologies, and their children can get the same learning with the help of AR, VR, simulations, and 3D videos, etc., within a very short period of time—which children usually get in a span of 10 to 15 years.

Microsoft’s 2025 AI in Education Report notes that AI tools, including AR/VR, enhance student agency and personalize learning in developing countries, allowing rapid skill acquisition that traditional methods can’t match.

So these children can be skilled enough to earn by the age they are 15 or 16, to stand on their own feet, be confident, be incentivized, be useful members of the society without burdening their parents, and above all, and most importantly, wasting their prime age in the colleges and universities where they do not learn skills comparable to the requirements of the day but only theoretical and boring lectures.

It is the worst crime to waste the prime of the youth and then throw them into the wilderness of unemployment where they don’t find any job in public or private sector or even they can’t earn money on their own without suffering a lot of pain and humiliation.

Studies from Flinders University and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics confirm that education-job market mismatches severely penalize graduates with lower earnings and higher unemployment rates, as new entrants encounter inconsistent skill development and outdated curricula that fail to align with current industry demands.

So, this is the time: I call upon all the authorities mentioned above—and others not mentioned—to wake up, stop committing this crime against the future of the people of the country, and urgently reorient colleges and universities toward practical skill development.

With over 25 million children aged 5-16 already out of school in Pakistan as of 2025—representing more than one in three school-age children—and youth unemployment rates hovering around 10-11 percent for ages 15-24, perpetuating an outdated system that produces graduates mismatched with market needs is unforgivable.

Reports from the Pakistan Institute of Education and international bodies highlight a severe skills gap, where employers repeatedly note that graduates lack essential digital, communication, and problem-solving abilities, leading to chronic underemployment and frustration among the educated youth.

If you cannot fundamentally remodel the higher education system—reorienting curricula and creating skill-development environments that integrate digital tools, freelancing training, AI literacy, and industry partnerships to enable students to start earning even before completing their degrees or while studying—then shut down these obsolete institutions immediately.

In 2025, initiatives like DigiSkills.pk—having delivered over 4.5 million trainings—have enabled Pakistani freelancers to collectively earn USD 1.65 billion cumulatively up to December 2024, proving that targeted digital skills training in areas such as graphic design, digital marketing, and content writing empowers youth and students to achieve financial independence on global platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. However, if such programmes fail to equip participants to start earning during or immediately after training, they fall short of their true potential and are worth far less than the publicity they receive.

Programmes like the Prime Minister’s Youth Initiatives and provincial skill development schemes—despite billions in allocated expenditure, such as Rs 222 billion in combined skills training and loan disbursements in recent years—have failed to demonstrate meaningful contributions to economic growth, GDP expansion, or increased tax revenues.

With youth unemployment persistently high at around 11 percent for ages 15-24 and a severe skills mismatch costing Pakistan 2-3 percent of GDP annually; according to Asian Development Bank estimates, many graduates from these programmes end up in underemployment or low-productivity informal jobs.

Merely placing participants in temporary or mismatched roles serves as a damning indictment against these so-called skilling institutions and programmes, perpetuating rather than resolving the cycle of wasted potential and economic stagnation.

Continuing to waste prime years on theoretical lectures in a landscape of rising unemployment—now affecting millions of literates and degree-holding youth—is the worst crime, robbing an entire generation of dignity and opportunity.

Act now to transform higher education into engines of empowerment, or close these dens of delayed dreams before they commit further irreparable harm to Pakistan’s youth, society, and future.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026