Despite the fact that Pakistan attained independence in 1947 its education policy remained devoid of plans to achieve the National objective.

The result is that every year hundreds and thousands of graduates are produced who add only to the list of unemployed youth. Lack of vocational training facilities and declining standard also adversely impact the work of manufacturing industries.

For example no one knows the number of doctors, engineers, accountants and IT professionals to be produced every year. The result is that at one specific point there is an acute shortage of a specific type of discipline but sometimes there is glut of graduates of the same seeking employment. This is due to lack of interaction between the educational institutions and business community. On top of this outdated curriculum and deteriorating quality of faculty in the public sector universities do not help in producing quality graduates.

Producing quality graduates is a long drawn procedure. It begins with the quantification of various types of graduates to be produced every year, ensuring availability of qualified and experienced faculty and enriching education with real life experience. However, lack of this linkage creates most problems. In most of the public sector universities the curriculum has not changed in decades and the same goes true for the faculty. A large number of teachers use stale notices, which they have prepared most probably when they themselves were students.

Higher education has become a big and quick-buck making business. In order to attract the children of people who have amle money the biggest selling point are grandeur buildings having all sort of luxuries. Most of the students coming to such institutions could get a job or be partners in family business even if they do not have any formal education. However, the name having a professional degree alleviates the person. Now a number of foreign educational sell masters or doctorates for a couple of hundred dollars. They do not have to do much but simply get the printout.

Though, some of the educational institutions may not like it but it is a fact that these students passing out from these institutes may have degree but their attitude towards life is not very different of those who are often termed ‘uneducated’. They may have a piece of paper called ‘degree’ but it looks that education has not changed their mindset.

If the destination of this nation has to be changed, a lot needs to be done to improve higher education system in country. We have already wasted six decades in arguing whether the medium of instruction should be Urdu or English but we have not been able to quantify how many doctors, engineers, academicians, accountants and business administrators will be needed in next five years.