Workforce development: Project to bridge gap between universities, industries

US partnering with 420 schools in rural Sindh to build capacity in ICT under initiative

HYDERABAD: The $250,000 Pakistan Workforce Development Project will strengthen the transition of students from education to employment, acting US Consul-General John Warner said while speaking at the concluding ceremony of the project in Isra University in Hyderabad on Friday.

Warner said the progression strategies tested in the US were introduced in Pakistan.

The approach is based on building an enduring and mutually beneficial partnership between universities and industries, he explained.

The outcomes of this project will help Pakistani universities raise their profiles in the local and international markets and enable Pakistani youth to create new businesses and thereby expand the job market, alleviate poverty, and reduce extremism, which beget from a lack of hope and opportunity, Warner said.



Highlighting his country's assistance to Pakistan in the education and technology sectors in Sindh, he informed that the US is partnering with 420 schools in rural Sindh to build capacity in information and communication technology (ICT). He said 4,000 students, 800 teachers and 4,000 out-of-school students will receive ICT training through this initiative.

Highlighting the partnership between the Ball State University in US and Isra University from 2012 to 2015, Warner said that encouraged by the accomplishments of the partnership, the academic journey has been extended for one more year.

He said that the important segment of this project is to support 10 other Pakistani universities to make similar achievements in career services and entrepreneurship.



Those universities include the University of Peshawar, Institute of Management Sciences in Peshawar, Karakoram International University in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kohat University of Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology in Bannu, Sukkur Institute of Business Administration, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, University of Balochistan, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University in Quetta and Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences.

The pro-vice chancellor of Isra University, Dr Hameedullah Kazi, spoke about the varsity's role in achieving the project's objectives. Dr Kenneth Holland and Dr Julie Lebo from Ball State University also spoke.