In my seven years as a lecturer, I have come across a sea of students who seemed to have no faith in their future.

That is ironic because the entire purpose behind higher education is to help create smarter, more confident people who are better prepared for the real world.

This begs the question: how effective are these universities in preparing their students for the said world?

I just finished talking to numerous students about how their universities are faring in this regard; students from UET Taxila, NUST, Hamdard University Karachi, Islamia University Bahawalpur which we’ll call Tier 1 (ranking based on budget, equipment, professors); and students from Iqra University, Fatima Jinnah Women’s University, PMAS, and SZABIST Islamabad, which we’ll call Tier 2.

Problems

Before we go into examples, let us talk about where universities are at fault. It is important to understand that this critique applies to the average university, not the upper echelons of academic excellence in Pakistan.

Also read: 6 areas where Pakistani BBA and MBA degrees fall short

Profit-churning institutes the biggest problem

Employers demand a certain skill-set from their employees. As far as an employer is concerned, applicants can acquire these skills, however they want. With