Youth play a pivotal role in the development of sports in any country. Active participation of youth in sports related activities is an indication of a physically and mentally fit youth who have the capacity to reshape not only the future of national sports of that country but also actively contribute towards the country’s overall prosperity and progress.

Pakistan youth (under the age of 30) constitute 70% of the total population of Pakistan, representing the country’s most influential demographic resource, otherwise known as the youth bulge. However, it also holds the unwanted world ranking of having the highest number of out-of-school children. Approximately, 27 million of its children do not go to school. This number represents a staggering 36 per cent of the population aged 5-16 years, according to data available from Pakistan Census 2023.

This pathetic state of affairs has led to a progressive decline in the education and corresponding healthcare and general well being of our youth. According to the Global Youth Development Index Update Report 2023, Pakistan ranks 162 out of a total of 180 countries. This absolutely deplorable situation is further re-enforced by the Human Resource Index (HDI) obtained by a different source. According to the UNDP 2023/2024 Report, Pakistan is placed in the ‘low’ Human Development Index (HDI) category with a global ranking of 164 out of 193 countries.

Pakistan’s poor international athletic performance can also be linked to the fact that a huge potential youth resource of 27 M children, aged 5-16 years old, are out of school, and thus missing out on school-based sports programs.

Pakistan’s uphill struggles in the face of international competition in sports can be attributed directly to lack of education amongst its youngsters, the importance of which is elaborated below:

Lack of education: Many would-be sport stars, including those from the youth bulge and the out-of-school children miss out on the opportunity to earn themselves a name in sports due to missing out on primary schooling. Added skills which education imparts to the potential athlete include:

Cognitive Skills: Cognitive skills refer to the ability to identify and acquire environmental information in order to integrate them with existing knowledge. Early childhood education and related curriculum teaches a child to hone in such skills.

Analytical ability: Development of analytical ability and financial management skills attained during education help the athlete to manage his or her career including sponsorships etc in a better way.

Communication Skills: Though some may differ, it is utmost important for athletes to develop linguistic and particularly verbal communication skills. These skills may be required for taking coach instructions, and awareness of various sports related rules and regulations. Furthermore, at international level athletes need to represent their country during match reviews etc. They are like an ambassador for their country and need to convey their ideas with linguistic proficiency and clarity during interviews etc to make a good impression.

Athletes with little or no education suffer from lack of awareness due to their inability to read literature related to nutrition, safety instructions, injury prevention, training techniques etc.

The correlation between education and achieving sports excellence is well documented. There are numerous success stories where an integration of education and sports curriculum has produced excellent outcomes. One such success story relates to the Japanese Model known in Japanese as the Bukatsu: Japan’s School-Based Club Culture is a Holistic model for achieving Academic and Athletic Excellence (Bukatsu System). It is primarily based in schools and companies.

It supports athletes by providing structured environments for skill development, social integration, and physical health. These clubs offer an ideal platform for youth development where the young talents are groomed under sponsorship of the corporate sports sector alongside their academic pursuits. As these sporting club activities are mostly school based, they lay the foundation for youth development at grassroot levels.

According to the Journal of Expertise (JOE), in Japan, most sporting club activities are school based, providing a firm foundation for youth development. According to them, “there is no other country in the world where the scale of school sports club activities provides the mainstay of youth sporting development activities”.

The success of the Japanese system is primarily due to their emphasis on youth development. In the case of Pakistan, however, youth development is one of our weakest areas, as seen from the Global Youth Development index and also the Human Resource Development Index which rank Pakistan at embarrassingly down the list of nations. This is despite the fact that Pakistan has the highest number of youth population, normally referred to as the youth bulge.

A role model such as the Japanese one covered above could be a good reference point when undertaking youth developmental reforms. Obviously, we would need to allow margin for major inherent differences which exist between the two economies.

We need to identify areas of shortcomings in the present system before we can propose a way forward. The prime focal point here is the need to educate our youth and use the untapped youth bulge factor to the country’s advantage.

1. School infrastructure improvement needed

We talk about providing playgrounds and other sports amenities within school premises. However, it is startling to note that an alarming number of schools across Pakistan even lacked toilets, potable water among other basic facilities. According to the report 2021-22 published by The Pakistan Education Statistics, 24 percent of primary schools across Pakistan did not have toilet facilities. According to the report, only 59pc of Sindh’s schools, 39pc in Balochistan, 31pc in AJK and 61pc in GB had a boundary wall. To make it even worse, electricity availability in schools is also a major issue.

For instance, only 38pc of primary schools in Sindh, had power available in their premises. And there is still worse to come. According to a report published by UNDP in 2018, only seven per cent of Pakistani children have access to a playground in their school or community, and over 60pc of them reported not having frequent access to sport and play activities. The figures on the state of our primary school infrastructure paint a very pathetic picture and one which warrants immediate attention.

2. Budget enhancement

Pakistan allocates a very meagre amount of its budget towards education and allied facilities and infrastructure. This allocation towards Education only represents 1.91% of Pakistan’s GDP, up from 1.5% in 2023-24 but still far below the international recommendation of 4% of GDP.

3. Recurring Dominance:

83% of the budget goes to salaries and daily operations, leaving little for infrastructure or innovation.

Developmental Gaps: Only 17% is allocated for infrastructure, far below the 30% recommended by UNESCO for developing nations.

The above figures clearly reflect Pakistan’s struggle to shift from survival-mode spending to long-term development.

3. Curriculum review

Curriculum of Primary Schools must be reviewed. Focus must be to develop a dual role-based system whereby equal emphasis is paid on not only achieving academic targets but also a program of physical training along with sessions on ethics and mannerism, the idea being to develop a holistic approach which caters to the physical, mental and academic needs of children.

4. Public Private
Partnership:

We are a developing country with its own financial and budgetary constraints. PPP is a strategic tool which can be used to support and complement the already strained public education system. Public-Private collaboration works well in order to pool up the resources to meet its ever-mounting needs such as developmental expenditure for infrastructure expansion of primary schools or sponsorship of talented kids, in academia, or sports.

5. Teacher training
programmse:

There is a need to revamp teacher training initiatives whereby teachers are trained to adopt a more holistic approach towards the children under their supervision. This involves not only ensuring the conveyance of quality academic knowledge but also being equipped to implement other holistic development strategies such as teaching for promoting basic motor skills and other sports specific drills, and being able to identify early signs of athletic potential through recognizing extraordinary agility, and coordination skills.

6. Gender Inclusivity

In the local context, Gender Inequality is a big issue which needs to be tackled when undertaking youth development programs. According to the UNDP, Pakistan is ranked at a pathetically low 145 out of the 146 countries being graded. This inequality aspect is starkly reflected in primary education and sports sectors also. This extremely discriminatory attitude towards girl athletes has resulted in thousands of talented girls being kept away from sports, It is no wonder that not a single Pakistani woman athlete has ever won a medal in either the Summer or Winter Olympics Games.

Conclusion

Pakistan is faced with a critical situation. It enjoys a vast youth population which can be a blessing for the country but if not nurtured and engaged in a planned and meaningful manner, can turn out to be an economic burden. Presently, this country faces a huge dilemma by being host to 27 million out-of-school children. No wonder we are ranked globally at an embarrassingly low level in terms of both the Youth and Human Development Indices. As if this were not enough, we are also ranked at the bottom of the Global Gender Inequality Index. This pathetic situation reflects upon our earnestness to develop talent at grassroot levels. Now is the time for all the stakeholders, including the appropriate governmental agencies, the policymakers, supported by corporate partnerships and the community, through strategic planning, collaboration and sustained investment, to prioritize measures for stopping this downward trend. Only through ensuring gender inclusivity and through empowering our youth through education and sports, can we truly exploit this demographic dividend and reclaim our place on the global stage.