Significance of skill development

Three factors are globally responsible for human resource development: education, health and a decent standard of living. With time, environmental sustainability is also being considered an essential aspect of human resource development. Most developed countries have attained long-term economic sustainability by ensuring these parameters. Japan, for example, rose from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki owing to its resilient and efficient human resource. Similar is the case with other developed countries.
The United States, which once was highly dependent on Middle Eastern countries for energy resources, is now self-sufficient due to its shale revolution. Likewise, the impressive economies of certain countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, offer ample evidence of strong correlation between skilled human resource and economic growth.
These countries invest heavily in their respective human resources. Their literacy rates stand above 90 per cent, their healthcare systems are exceptionable, and they enjoy a decent standard of living, for they face no energy, water and food crises. Along with these blessings, gender inequality, unemployment, brain drain, high inflation, etc., which have engulfed the under-developed countries, are considered issues of the past in such developed economies. On the other hand, Pakistan, which is blessed with tremendous natural resources, is lacking in achieving its desired economic growth and sustainability owing to its underdeveloped human resource. Although almost 64pc of the population is below the age of 30 years, lack of quality education, substandard healthcare facilities, and paucity of employment opportunities have made them useless in terms of contribution to the national economy.
The ousted government tried to bring education reforms through the single national curriculum (SNC).
However, without mainstreaming the out-of-school children, regulating the ‘ghost schools’, maintaining the infrastructure and ending the education apartheid in letter and in spirit, these ‘reforms’ alone have no potential to cure the ills of the country’s education system.
Similarly, the healthcare system is also in a shambles as public-sector expenditure on health was estimated at 1.2pc of GDP in 2019-20, according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2020-21, which is meagre compared to the global average expenditure on this sector.
Therefore, only 1,282 hospitals, 5,472 basic health units (BHUs), 670 rural health centres (RHCs), 5,743 dispensaries, 752 maternity and child health centres, and 412 tuberculosis (TB) treatment centres are present for 220 million people.
A decent standard of living is severely compromised due to extreme poverty. Although on paper, almost 29pc of the populace is below the poverty line, in reality the number is much larger. Such people are deprived of even basic facilities, like clean water for drinking, fuel for cooking, food for eating, and electricity for running their electrical appliances.
In Kohistan and many other areas across the length and breadth of the country, women walk several miles every day to collect water as Pakistan is a water-deficit country. We can save water for only 30 days owing to our inefficiency despite having rich water resources.
Similarly, a healthy basket of food is available to a limited number of people, therefore, malnutrition and child stunting are common. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, 37pc children are food-insecure, 45pc are stunted and 20pc undernourished in Pakistan. Other than food shortages, long hours of electricity loadshedding has made the life of the common man miserable. This sorry state of affairs throws light on the current status of Pakistan’s human resource underdevelopment.
Consequently, economic growth, stability and sustainability remain a pipe dream. All horrible economic indicators are in front of us. Circular debt, hyperinflation and external debt are rising, while fiscal and trade deficits are widening. In order to tackle the situation, the government, along with all the relevant stakeholders, should invest in skill development programmes, quality education, and healthcare facilities, instead of putting its energies in free cash transfer schemes. The nation needs long-term committed programmes; not charity or charitable schemes. Pakistan’s economy needs growth followed by sustainability. In this regard, human resource development and management will be helpful as among all the natural resources, this particular resource has no alternative.
SHADAB KHAN
ISLAMABAD