Education-Industry Gap in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Integrating Education with Local Economic Development

Abstract

Education is the key indicator in a number of measures of economic development including but not limited to; Employment, Human Development Index (HDI), Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and living standards. The economy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is primarily agrarian, while the service sector dominates GDP, contributing approximately 58%. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa literacy rate has been increased from 53% in 2019-20 to 55.1% in 2020-21. This research examine that whether the existing curriculum and education standards are fulfilling the necessary and sufficient conditions for meeting the labor market demand for skilled/educated workers? The supply of skilled work force to the labor market is enough for the production of goods and services planned by relevant industry/sector or not? The province faces challenges like non-alignment between curriculum and market demand, resulting in a skill gap and unemployment which hindering local economic development. Further complicating the situation is the scarcity of resources within academic institutions. There is no research collaboration between academia and industry. KP is bridging the gap between education-industry as the evidences are that universities are actively engaged in establishing meaningful collaborations with various industries, to ensure curriculum relevance and alignment with evolving industry requirements, facilitating collaboration between academia and industry experts, launches industry aligned Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS), with ongoing workshops and trainings for faculty and students. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Digital skills feeds the digital workforce into the digital governance and economy pillars. Government has taken initiative in the form of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry and have created employment opportunities for the youth. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has rolled out Digital Skills training at the elementary & secondary level. For integrating education with local economic development primary requirement is academia-industry trust, proper mechanism for equitable asset distribution among the Universities, rational assessment of the demands and supply gap, investment in education and training programs to develop a skilled workforce that meets the specific needs of the services sector is required.