KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan chairman and Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has assured the participants of a “Youth Convention” on Sunday that he would leave no stone unturned for the educational development of Karachi.

The massive show was organised by the MQM-P at the Karachi Expo Centre, where a large number of youngsters were present.

The city’s youth were thrilled to know that over a dozen universities are expected in Karachi over the next few years with the efforts of the MQM-P.

Addressing the convention, Dr Maqbool said the event was organised to give hope to the youth of Karachi in particular and of the country in general amid the growing brain drain. The city would see significant development in the next 10 years by the party efforts, he added.

“Our message is for the youth that don’t give up and lead this nation to prosperity and development,” he said. “The MQM-P is committed to its cause to bring the youth in the mainstream and equip them with education and skills. For this objective we are making our efforts and you would see some 13 new universities are coming to Karachi very soon.”

MQM-P holds ‘Youth Convention’; over 12 universities expected in Karachi within few years, says Dr Siddiqui

Despite limited powers and authority, he said, the party was making all due efforts to strengthen the people’s belief in democracy and the parliamentary system. In the next 10 years, he said, the MQM-P would work tirelessly for the development and welfare of the city.

“Pakistan is one the luckiest countries on earth which has the largest number of the youth in its total population,” said Dr Siddiqi. “Some 150 million people in Pakistan are under 25 years of age. Now it’s time for the policymakers to turn this advantage into strength of the nation. From Karachi to Khyber and Kashmir to Gwadar, the MQM-P is the true representative of the youth and middle class of the country.”

Senior MQM-P leaders Mustafa Kamal and Dr Farooq Sattar also addressed the youth.

A large number of youth, including boys and girls, participated in the MQM-P’s youth convention held at Expo Centre. Some attendees arrived in transport provided by the party while others came with their parents or friends, hoping to explore opportunities to earn through digital skills.

After filling out the registration forms at the entrance gate, the attendees encountered face cut-out standees of comic characters like Ms Marvel and Superman on the right side. Alongside these, representative stalls from various universities, tech firms and organisations were providing information to the visitors.

While the stalls set up by the universities and tech companies garnered significant interest from youngsters, the one established by the MQM-P to promote a tree plantation drive saw less engagement.

“So far, 30 people have registered to voluntarily participate in the tree plantation drive,” a representative at the stall told Dawn. Asked about the low number of registrations, he said: “There is still a lack of environmental awareness among people. They approach us for information, but they don’t want to volunteer for this drive.”

“On social media, I read that there would be discussions about courses of digital marketing and e-commerce,” said Ali Sher, a student at Jinnah Medical University, who runs his own marketing agency.

In response to the availability of free online digital skills courses, Ali said: “Courses are available online, but the purpose of coming here is to get guidance from teachers and guides directly.”

Another participant, Bilal, an ACCA student from Liaquatabad, who registered for a digital marketing skills course offered by the MQM-P, told Dawn that political parties should organise such programmes for the youth as many young people were unemployed. Bilal also mentioned that he did not find anything unusual at this convention because such programmes are common in the metropolis.

MQM-P leader and former federal information minister Syed Aminul Haque told Dawn that the purpose of organising that event was to increase prospects of the bright future of the youth and connect them with the party.

Asked about the availability of data on digital literacy, he mentioned that no survey had been conducted on that in Pakistan so far.

At the convention, the MQM-P also introduced a ‘Connect Programme’ aimed at enabling people to convey their issues to their elected representatives through phone calls.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2024