Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday stressing on the importance of vocational training and skilled manpower in socio-economic development directed the federal and provincial institutions to formulate and present a joint comprehensive strategy. He said that one of the numerous factors behind economic development of neighborly China was their special focus on skilled manpower. The prime minister was presiding over a meeting regarding inter-provincial cooperation for skilled education. He further said that with no dearth of capabilities in Pakistani manpower, there was a need to improve their capabilities and provide opportunities of proving the country’s mettle at international level through timely measures. Federal Minister Shafqat Mehmood, Provincial Ministers Raja Yasir Humayun, Kamran Bangash, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Tanvir Ilyas, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) National Information Technology Board (NITB) Shabahat Ali Shah Chairman National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) Syed Javed Hussain, Chairman Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Ali Salman Siddiqui, Chairman Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) Amir Hashmi, Sajjad Burki, Atif Khan and officers concerned were in attendance. The meeting was briefed about the strategy for training the Pakistani skilled people as per international standards. It was told that in order to tackle the challenges faced by Pakistani manpower at international level, a comprehensive strategy would be formulated in cooperation with the federal and provincial institutions. The meeting was told that neglecting the sector in the past resulted in unemployment and decrease in workers’ remittances, instead of transforming the youth into a skilled manpower. The prime minister was told that TEVTA, for the first time in last 10 years, got a development budget of Rs. 10 billion during the present government, which enabled the institution to increase its training capacity from 90,000 to 200,000 and further 50,000 through online training system. It was told that TEVTA, keeping in view the international consumption, was moving towards preparing a new lot of skilled manpower through Competency Based Training and Assessment (CBTS) system, which would be able to get employment in special sectors in any country. Besides, the meeting was also apprised of introducing various skill training programmes as per the requirement of various countries, establishment of National Accreditation Regime and linking it with various international institutions. The meeting was further told about the initiation of 57 new training courses as well as another 200 courses, which would be started immediately after getting the relevant machinery. Besides, the prime minister was also apprised of the first time issuance of 1000 education and training scholarships for nurses.
Sohail Ali KhanÂ
Islamabad
