Knowledge, Skills and Attitude – Colossal Gaps: An account on lack of Career Guidance in Pakistan and its solutions

Author: Sameen Zaki | www.dhirubhai.net/in/sameenzaki

Enough has been said and more than enough has been discussed about Industry Academia gaps. We are still not at an optimum level to help out our graduates with adequate skills to perform in life. With my little experience of ten years and observation throughout life, here are few areas I would like to highlight that are playing a role in increasing the gaps.

#1: Our Family systems are losing the life skills training

Life skills are essential part of up-bringing and growth that can be embedded in daily routine of individuals only through the family values that are practiced. No school, college or institute can instill discipline in any individual if it is not reinforced back home. The first step is to revisit parenting. Let your kids understand the respect for (i) time (of self and others), (ii) decisions and (iii) money. Let them experience difficulties at all levels. Do not give them highly convenient life from the very beginning. Over-protective parenting ruins the confidence of individual and does not let them grow to full potential. It will not prepare them to deal with minor to major ups & downs of life. General attitude of an individual is developed in early years that are reflected in every aspect of life in later years. Make sure you lay the best foundations of the upcoming generations.

#2: Revamping Education System

The education system in Pakistan from the beginning of early childhood education is not yet been taken seriously by the State. The teaching profession has been taken way more than for-granted and it is commonly understood that any graduate can teach. We need to get out of this misconception. I want State to issue a notice that no person without proper certified training can be a teacher in early years schools. We have ruined the roots of our nation by providing them with amateur teachers from the very start. With all due respect to all the persons in this profession, I state my point based on my life’s experiences.

Anyone with eighteen years of education in the relevant subject is considered eligible for a teaching position in higher education. Education policy makers should revisit this idea since there is a lot more about the skill and art of teaching that should be attached with the academic credentials. Teachers should be certified with the knowledge of educational psychology to handle the classroom dynamics with a complete understanding of pedagogy and assessment & evaluation procedures. No fresh candidate should be selected as a lecturer unless they have gone through a rigorous process of training and atleast two years of teaching assistant-ship with seasoned teachers. Another model can be to include people from industry to embed in the teaching stream, not only as visiting faculty members but also in the board of directors and as part of curriculum planning. It has been generally seen that industry professionals who have the spirit to give back to the society, engage themselves in teaching assignments at universities and transfer to students a flavor of knowledge, skills and attitudes required in the world of work. However, the regular teaching professionals are usually far from industry. The heavy workload of teaching assignments and pressures of completing the syllabi does not allow them to take things beyond the classroom. Having said that, there is still a lot of room to play in semester system and with little efforts, they can be the game changers. Therefore, there is a pressing need to sharpen our saw in the education sector.

#Internships

Universities and industry professionals are the equal stakeholders to develop the youth for upcoming workforce. A very important component of an undergraduate degree program is an internship. Unfortunately, most of the internships are not well planned. They do not give sufficient learning experience to interns, thus do not help much in preparing for life at work. Education is supposed to be the preparation to work & only work run economies. A new model of internship should be that it is embedded in the second last or last semester of the degree program instead of leaving it for the summers or a job to be done in vacations. Minimum of six to eight weeks should be allocated and internship should be treated as a course where students should be evaluated accordingly, together by a panel of academicians and corporate professionals. The sooner we take the internship and ambassadorship opportunities seriously, the quicker we shall be able to equip our students with the right set of skills.

I would recommend the industry to improve their internship plan. A certain percentage of employers exploit university graduates by opening internships just for the sake of their own workload division. It is a malpractice by some of the organizations who won’t hire a candidate and instead extend the internship period over and again to get more benefit from the interns. Internships should be a win-win both for the employers and for the interns. Due to the ill conceptualization of internships in our society, they are least accounted for by employers while counting the years of experience of individuals. Similarly, graduate of today does not want to undergo internship unless it is just a requirement for their degree program. In my humble opinion, by re-modeling the internship model, we can prepare the individuals in a better way to grab the work opportunities.

#Who will bridge the gap between Campus to Corporate?

A good eight to ten years back, Career Counseling and placement centers were alien to the universities of Pakistan. When millennial generation stepped into the world of work, they disrupted the environment. Many of them came up with frustrations of vision-less and mission-less education that they have acquired. They found a mismatch in the knowledge they have been provided with at university level and the skills required at industry. A highly pressing need was escalated to have the corporate linkages centers at universities. Today after ten years, the dilemma still exists. In the universities’ structure there has always been a teaching faculty, staff and students. Now this triangle has to be converted into a square structure where four stakeholders, including corporate/liaison officers should be one part of the previous three. The career path of the liaison officials/career counselors has to be designed within the structure of universities. Even till now, there is no formal education or certification that can prepare individuals to take this role. As per my knowledge, only one institute in Islamabad, has initiated to provide educational degree in career counseling. Quite recently, University of Home Economics was planning to offer one course on Career Counseling & Guidance under the umbrella of Human Development & Family Studies department. The outcomes are yet to be explored. In most of the institutes, the personnel hired on low salaries, irrelevant backgrounds and skills and with no career path are given the duty to advise, counsel, assist and place the students/graduates. Isn’t it an irony!?

Top management at universities and policy makers in education sector need to understand that placement officers are the bridging body of officials that connect the industry and academia to assist graduates in smoother transition from university life to life at work. They need to understand the market, the upcoming educational trends and student body. Back in 2009-2011, I conducted a study where I reached out some universities of Lahore city and spoke to their career guidance & placement officials. I was trying to understand their working and structure. Since then, I am connected to this field and career development of individuals is very close to my heart. After gaining a decade of experience in this practical field, I can understand the challenges of this profession and how it can help resolve the issues of today’s youth of Pakistan. Today, I am connected with such community from more colleges, institutes and universities. There is a dire need to have this community united to discuss the challenges our youth face while they graduate and become job seekers and not the job creators. My next phase of action is to develop an association on national level that can address and advocate the profession of career counseling. Many forums and societies in Pakistan are working for this cause and are contributing in campus to corporate transitions. A lot has been said on this issue and now it is time to take action. State, education policy makers and public universities should take the first step in devising a plan and implement it in true letter and spirit. Universities provide and create knowledge. The skill to use that knowledge for one’s own good and for the betterment of society around is what we need to make our youngsters learn.

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