PM launches National Youth Employment Policy, pledges equal education opportunities for youth

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday formally launched the First National Youth Employment Policy, reaffirming the government’s commitment to providing Pakistan’s youth with equal opportunities in education, skills development and employment.

Addressing a ceremony held in connection with International Youth Day, the prime minister said the government was determined to equip young people with modern technological and skill-based education to enable them to compete in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven global environment.

He stressed that equal access to quality education was essential for national development, particularly for talented and deserving students from underprivileged backgrounds. He said the vision behind the creation of Pakistan included equal opportunities in education, health and other fields of life on the basis of merit and hard work.

Under the National Youth Employment Policy, the prime minister announced a 35 percent quota for women in the labour force and a 10 percent annual quota for young startups to promote inclusivity, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the present era was dominated by Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology and advanced technologies. He emphasized that Pakistan could not compete with developed nations unless young people acquired modern knowledge and incorporated new technologies into their professional and daily lives.

He pledged that all available national resources would be utilized to provide young people with opportunities to excel in different fields and receive quality education and professional training.

The prime minister highlighted the role of Danish Schools in providing quality education to talented and deserving students from underprivileged communities. He said the network was being expanded to backward and far-flung areas of the country to ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds could also access quality education.

He said a Danish University was being established in Islamabad and its academic activities would commence next year. The university would be technology-focused and its doors would remain open to deserving and talented students.

The prime minister said 700,000 laptops had already been distributed among students on merit, while 250,000 high-achieving students would receive Chromebooks this year.

He said 1,000 agricultural graduates from across the country had been sent to China at government expense for training in modern agricultural technologies. More batches of young people would also be sent to China for education and training in Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology on a purely merit-based basis.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government had allocated substantial resources in the federal budget for youth development and would continue investing in the country’s young population.

Minister for Power Sardar Ahmad Khan Leghari, speaking on the occasion, said the new policy would provide opportunities to young people with innovative ideas, particularly those that could contribute to the power sector.

He said a National Employment Digital Platform would provide institutional support and a platform for innovative ideas, research and solutions. He added that Rs30 million would be given annually as awards to winning participants, while Rs1 billion had been allocated for the adoption of innovative ideas over the next three years.

Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan said the Danish education system and Punjab Education Endowment Fund were among the prime minister’s major achievements in the education sector.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated the National Youth Employment Policy and presented awards to talented young people in recognition of their outstanding achievements.

The ceremony was attended by federal ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats, teachers and students.