The Sindh government has officially rolled out a new policy for public sector jobs (Grade 5 to Grade 15) that grants additional weight to educational qualifications. Under this new system, applicants will be awarded an additional 5 points if their academic results show they achieved at least a 50% aggregate score. This measure is intended to encourage merit-based selection.

Further rules detail who gets the bonus points. Candidates holding an Intermediate qualification will also receive the extra 5 points during the recruitment test. Additionally, candidates assessed by IBA Sukkur, the official testing body for many large-scale government hiring processes in the province, are guaranteed the 5 points during their assessment. This system is now mandatory across all provincial departments.

Read more: Pakistan’s unemployment projected to hit 7% as per new labour survey

This move comes as the job market across Pakistan faces growing pressure. The country’s unemployment rate is predicted to climb to 7% in 2024–25, a significant jump from the 6.3% previously reported. This surge in joblessness is partially attributed to updated national labor survey standards that have reclassified millions of unpaid and subsistence workers, providing a more accurate, but grim, picture of the job deficit.

While the Sindh government’s 5-point policy is a positive step toward prioritizing merit in government jobs, its real-world impact will be small against the backdrop of a looming 7% unemployment rate. Experts suggest that awarding a few bonus points to graduates does not solve the fundamental problem of job creation, highlighting the need for much broader economic and industrial policies to absorb the growing number of job-seeking youth.