Education Is Changing. Are We Ready?
Dr Ikramullah
Peshawar: For our generation, the purpose of university education seemed straightforward: earn a good degree, secure a decent government or private-sector job, and build the foundation for a relatively secure future.
When we entered university in the first decade of the 2000s, this was widely accepted as the conventional formula for success. We had little idea that within just a decade or so, technology would transform not only our daily lives but also the way we learn, work and earn.
Nor could we have imagined that a person sitting at home in Peshawar, Islamabad or any other part of Pakistan would one day be able to acquire knowledge from institutions around the world, work for international clients and sell products or services in global markets.
At that time, smartphones were not yet part of everyday life, high-speed internet was not widely accessible, and online education was far from mainstream.
Concepts such as e-commerce, remote employment, freelancing and social-media-based businesses were still in their infancy. Artificial intelligence had little relevance to the average student’s life, while solar energy was not yet widely viewed as an alternative for households and businesses.
Our education system was therefore designed around the needs of the world we knew. But that world has changed dramatically.
In just ten to fifteen years, mobile phones have evolved into powerful computing and communication tools. The internet has weakened geographical barriers, online commerce has transformed buying and selling, and freelancing has allowed skilled individuals to access international markets without leaving their homes.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of education, research, business, medicine, industry and everyday life. The question, therefore, is no longer whether the world is changing. The real question is whether our education system is changing quickly enough to prepare young people for it.
The scale of this transformation is visible in Pakistan itself. According to official data for 2024–25, 57 percent of the country’s population was using the internet, while 70 percent of households had internet access.
In 2018–19, only 17 percent of the population had used the internet during the preceding three months. The increase illustrates how rapidly access to information, education and economic opportunities has expanded. Yet our understanding of education and employment has not changed at the same pace.
Pakistan’s employment figures should also force us to reconsider the traditional assumption that obtaining a degree naturally leads to a job. In 2024–25, the country’s overall unemployment rate stood at 7.1 percent. Among degree holders, it was 10.9 percent, while the unemployment rate among people with Master’s, M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees was 11.7 percent.
These figures do not suggest that higher education has lost its value. Degrees remain essential for many professions and provide an important foundation for intellectual and professional development. However, they do demonstrate that a degree alone can no longer guarantee employment.
At the same time, new economic opportunities are emerging outside traditional employment structures. Between July 2024 and March 2025, Pakistan’s exports of information technology-related services reached $2.825 billion, while independent professionals working from Pakistan generated approximately $400 million in foreign exchange through remittances. These developments point towards a broader transformation in the nature of work.
The future economy will not be limited to government offices, factories, banks and conventional private-sector jobs.
This is where our educational thinking needs a fundamental shift. For decades, we have largely treated education as a pathway to employment.
A child goes to school, then college, then university, and eventually the central question becomes: Where will this graduate find a job? Perhaps we should begin asking a different set of questions. What problems can this young person solve? What can they create? What services can they provide? What markets can they serve? And, perhaps most importantly, can they create employment for themselves and others?
These questions require a different understanding of education. Knowledge will remain important, but knowledge without application will increasingly have limited economic value. A business student should not graduate knowing only business theories; they should have some understanding of how to actually operate a business.
An IT student should be capable of developing practical projects rather than merely passing examinations. An agriculture student should understand modern agricultural technologies, markets and commercial opportunities.
The same principle applies across disciplines. Communication, language proficiency, data analysis, research, problem-solving, creativity and technological literacy are becoming increasingly important components of professional life.
None of this means universities will become irrelevant. Formal higher education will remain indispensable in medicine, engineering, science, research, teaching, law and many other fields where specialized knowledge, professional standards and accreditation are essential.
But universities will no longer be the only places where people acquire meaningful knowledge. A student can now learn programming from an international instructor, study business through an online course, acquire design skills through digital platforms, develop a professional portfolio through practical projects and offer services to clients thousands of kilometres away. Learning is becoming more continuous, flexible and accessible.
The traditional model of studying for several years and then stopping the process of learning may therefore become increasingly difficult to sustain. In a rapidly changing economy, education must become a lifelong process. Young people will need to continually update their knowledge and acquire new skills as technology, industries and markets evolve. The ability to learn, adapt and relearn may ultimately become as important as the knowledge acquired in a classroom.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating this transformation.
Many tasks that once required considerable time can increasingly be performed faster with technological assistance. But this should not necessarily be viewed as the end of human potential. Rather, it changes the nature of the skills that humans need.
Memorization alone is unlikely to be enough. The ability to understand information, ask meaningful questions, identify problems, evaluate answers, think creatively and use technology effectively will become increasingly important.
In an AI-driven world, knowing what to ask may become nearly as important as knowing what to know.
This also means that our classrooms cannot remain focused primarily on memorization and examination performance. Students need opportunities to experiment, research, create, collaborate and solve real-world problems.
Curricula should move beyond rote learning and incorporate practical skills, research, problem-solving, creativity and the application of technology. Universities should develop stronger links with industry, businesses and research institutions so that students can gain practical experience alongside theoretical knowledge.
Vocational and technical education also deserves greater attention. Freelancing, entrepreneurship and digital skills should not be treated merely as alternatives for students who cannot find conventional employment.
They are becoming important components of the modern economy. This does not mean that every student should become a freelancer or entrepreneur. Rather, students should be exposed to a broader range of possibilities than the traditional degree-to-job pathway.
For Pakistan, this transformation carries particular significance. The country has a large youth population, and if millions of young people continue to compete primarily for a limited number of conventional jobs, pressure on the labour market will remain high.
But the same population can become a significant economic asset if education is combined with technical, vocational, entrepreneurial and digital capabilities. A young person who can work for an international client, develop a digital product, operate an online business, provide professional services, apply modern technology to agriculture or establish a small enterprise is participating in the economy in a different way from someone whose only expectation is to wait for a traditional vacancy.
This does not make conventional employment less important or less respectable. It simply means that the definition of economic participation is becoming broader. Education should prepare young people not only to seek opportunities but also to identify, develop and create them.
The education system of the future should therefore not abandon degrees.
Instead, it should redefine what a degree is expected to achieve. A degree should provide knowledge, intellectual foundations and professional direction, but it should be accompanied by practical competence, adaptability, technological awareness, communication skills and the ability to solve problems.
The most important shift may ultimately be psychological. We need to move from asking, “What job will this degree get me?” to asking, “What can I do with what I have learned?” The distinction may appear small, but it represents a major change in how we understand education. The degree will still matter.
Universities will still matter. Teachers will still matter. But in a world where knowledge is increasingly accessible and technology is transforming work at unprecedented speed, the ability to apply knowledge, develop skills, solve problems and create value may matter just as much.
Perhaps that is the new formula for education in a changing world: the degree may show the way, but skills will lead to the destination.
The writer is a government servant in KP’s Tribal Region, serving in a capacity that likely involves administration or governance within the region.
The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.
