Fresh graduates not up to the mark: Punjab education minister

Raja Yasir Humayun says there is a need to re-evaluate education

LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raja Yasir Humayun Sarfraz said there is a dire need to improve the standard of fresh graduates being churned out by the country’s colleges and universities.

Speaking at the launch ceremony of a report titled Graduate Employability: Employers' Perception Survey Report 2018, the minister underlined that the current situation was alarming.  “If we ask a graduate to write a single page on any topic, believe me, he or she cannot even do that. We have reached a point where we must sit and think about what is being taught at universities and the education being imparted.”

The report itself found that a whopping 78% of employers in large and small corporations are not satisfied with the quality of fresh graduates. The survey report, compiled by a private business firm, highlighted that employers of multinational companies (MNCs), large national corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are equally unhappy over the quality of university graduates.

The exercise aimed to assess the skill gap in Pakistani graduates and encourage dialogue between academicians, university authorities and employers through collaborative multi-stakeholder engagement.

It compiled the opinions/feedback of 212 corporate respondents, comprising of business owners, C-level executives and HR leaders. They belonged to a range of businesses from SMEs and large national corporations to MNCs.

A first multi-stakeholder meeting was held in Lahore on January 5th, 2019, in the presence of HEC officials and leading corporate houses. There, it was agreed that the consulting company should continue to lead the national capacity skills programme and work with them to integrate the National Employability and Enterprise Skills Programme.

The report recommends a focus on the need to fast-track required interventions by improving the instructional design and teacher training material, initiating skill development programmes and renewing methods of assessments.

"It was really shocking for me to learn that 80% of industrial leaders said they had never been approached by the academia for any help or support." He said a balanced blend was created for corporate Pakistan so that a well-structured and educated survey could be conducted; one that can help restructure the educational environment for students.

He added over 212 organisations, encompassing 25 industries that collectively employ over half-a-million workforces, were engaged. Providing further details, he said 20% of the participants belonged to the IT, telecom and call center industry. Meanwhile, 16% were from FMCG and manufacturing, while 14% belonged retail, fashion, hospitality and food. Also, 12% of the participants were from professional services, 9% came from the education and training/research sector, while 8% belonged to banking, finance and insurance.

The target audience for this report includes higher education institutions (HEIs), faculty members of public and private universities, degree awarding institutes, technical and vocational training institutes, professional training institutes, industry and business leaders, policymakers, media, and the public in general.

Senior leaders were disillusioned with the inability of graduates to justify their higher grades even at the interview or assessment stage. This may be the case because 77% of employers are dissatisfied with the content and claims made by graduates on their CVs/resumes.

As many as 82% of employers said they did not hire fresh graduates merely on the basis of ‘high grades’. They mostly agreed that a blend of employability, enterprise skills and academic success was needed were the desired traits of an employee.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2019.