ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said that the government plans to set up 250 new technical and vocational training centres across Pakistan to teach the youth and unskilled labour force the skills required for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and other industries in the country.
Speaking to WealthPK, he further said that these vocational centres would impart skills to unskilled labour force in management, engineering, information technology and computer, so that their potential could be used in the Phase-II of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which focuses on industrialisation. “The existing technical and vocational training centres will also be upgraded to meet modern industrial needs and labour force requirements.”
Talking to WealthPK, Dr Nadeemul Haq, Vice-Chancellor of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), said that the skilled labour force was vital for success of the CPEC’s Phase-II.
He emphasised that the government should expedite the process of equipping youth with technical skills so they can be readily available for the industrial endeavours launched under the CPEC.
Pakistan is a country with rich natural and human resources. The role of highly skilled people in the national development has become enormously vital. However, it is a fact that the gap in highly skilled personnel in Pakistan is expanding.
Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) was established in Pakistan with the sole objective of preparing a skilled workforce for various industries and sectors in Pakistan. However, still about 60% of young, unskilled and semi-skilled labour force is employed in informal and non-formal sectors. This reflects the failure of TEVTA to supply the industry with the required trained manpower.
A trained workforce for CPEC projects has become all the more crucial for promoting economic growth in the country.
It appears that technical and vocational training institutes in Pakistan lack the necessary human and physical resources to back their learning or training programmes. As a consequence, they do not create enough skilled graduates to meet the labour market demands. Therefore, besides focusing on increasing the number of such institutes, attention should also be paid to improving the quality of the existing ones.
