ISLAMABAD: Only six per cent of the youth are highly educated whereas 29pc have no access to education, which is turning the youth from an asset to a liability.

This was stated by former inspector general of police Dr Sultan Azam Temuri while speaking at the ‘Summer Fiesta’ at Islamabad Model College for Girls, F-7/4. The Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training had organised the talk at the college on Tuesday.

Dr Temuri shared valuable insights on success principles, focusing on the youth, which constitute 64pc of Pakistan’s 245 million population. He highlighted the challenges faced by the youth, including limited access to high-quality education and skill development, leading to high competition and unemployment.

He also discussed gender equality and women empowerment. With females making up 49.6pc of the population, Pakistan ranks 142 out of 146 in the Global Gender Gap Index 2023, indicating low educational attainment and economic participation for women. He emphasised the need to utilise this untapped human resource and work towards achieving SDG-5, which focuses on gender equality.

The former IGP advised the students to follow the path of greatness instead of mediocrity. Greatness, according to Dr Temuri, can be achieved through excellence and stepping out of one’s comfort zone.

He encouraged students to cultivate empowering beliefs with vision, passion, discipline and conscience. He emphasised the importance of thinking big and staying positive, continuously improving themselves daily.

He urged the students to convert problems into opportunities, weaknesses into strengths and painful experiences into empowering beliefs.

Speaking on the occasion, Additional Inspector General of Police Helena Iqbal Saeed shared her journey as the first woman officer in the Police Service of Pakistan and emphasised the importance of self discipline, hard work and honesty. She urged students to avoid shortcuts and corruption and to stay away from drugs and crimes.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2024