PM Shehbaz urges prioritising youth education, skill development

ISLAMABAD: Reiterating his government’s strong commitment to youth empowerment, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif called on Tuesday to prioritise youth education and skill development, support entrepreneurship, and foster partnerships.

“By ensuring that youth remain central to governance and decision-making processes, we can lead the way in fostering partnerships, supporting entrepreneurship, and prioritizing education and skills development. This will ensure that our future is in the hands of an empowered young generation,” the prime minister said addressing the inaugural session of the Commonwealth Asia Youth Alliance (CAYA) summit here.

PM Shehbaz welcomed the participating delegates from several nations and said that as a founding member, Pakistan attached great importance to the Commonwealth and its institutions which served as an important platform for consensus-building and fostering partnerships.

The opening session of the international summit was attended by the delegates from 12 countries, federal ministers, diplomats, 113 new members of National Youth Council, students and academicians from across the country.

“With over 60% of the Commonwealth population under the age of 30, the future rests in the hands of the youth. These hands must be empowered and equipped through vigorous training and access to modern technology. This will enable them to carve out a peaceful, progressive, and prosperous future,” PM Shehbaz added.

He said Pakistan with a youth bulge of around 70% of the population under the age of 30, fully understood the potential as the challenge could easily be transformed into great opportunities.

Emphasising the undeniable role of youth in development, he told the international gathering that he always prioritized the productive employment of youth as a key focus area and devoted significant efforts to this goal.

He said that the government was committed to empowering youth through transformative initiatives such as the Youth Program empowering millions of boys and girls across Pakistan.

Referring to his term as Punjab chief minister, PM Shehbaz mentioned the launch of the Punjab Education Endowment Fund to provide stipends to high achievers for education, the establishment of Daanish Schools which were now being expanded to Islamabad, Azad Kashmir (AJK), and remote areas of Balochistan.

He said that, around 600,000 laptops were distributed to high achievers which during the COVID time proved to be valuable sources for distance learning as well as earning. A fresh program had been launched for laptop distribution to high achievers from Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), and AJK, coming from humble financial backgrounds, he added.