Vocational education: TVET termed vital for socio-economic uplift

Speakers at an event say skills development most effective tool for alleviating poverty, reducing unemployment

QUETTA: The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system will help Balochistan achieve socio-economic growth and provide job opportunities to the youth.

These views were expressed by speakers at a media sensitisation session organised by the Balochistan Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (BTEVTA) at a technical training institute on Sarki Road on Thursday.

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The speakers included Secretary Labour Balochistan Muhammed Rashid, Director National Vocational and Technical Training Centre (NAVTTC) Zulfiqar Jatoi, BTEVTA officials Shah Dina Magsi and Ali Haider Shahni, Regional Head SMEDA Shakoor Baloch and others.

BTEVTA was carrying out reforms with the help of the TVET Sector Support Programme which is funded by the European Union and the governments of Germany and Norway.

The speakers highlighted that people under the age of 35 formed 60% of Pakistan’s total population and the country’s future depended upon them.

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They also shed light on key interventions made to overhaul the training delivery system through implementing national skills strategy to improve access, relevance, equity and quality of the TVET system.

The speakers informed the participants that the first-ever national TVET policy, National Vocational Qualifications Framework, implementation of Competency Based Training, Modern Assessment System and Job Placement Centres for guidance of youth were some of the milestones achieved during the last six years.

They said BTEVTA, under the directions of NAVTTC, was going to launch ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ for the first time in the province to bring informal skilled workers into the mainstream for better job opportunities.

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They added that the business and industry associations were taken onboard for development of relevant courses according to the needs of the market so that the graduates could easily be absorbed into the system.

The speakers described skills development as the most effective tool for alleviating poverty and reducing unemployment.

Nearly 17% of the youth complete secondary education and a very small percentage acquire employable skills, according to the speakers. Annually 2.4 million young people enter the job market, but as of 2015, there were only 476,850 places available in the formal TVET through 3,581 institutes across Pakistan.

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Apart from this mismatch between demand and supply, they said, the quality and relevance of the training delivered was not in accordance with the demands of the job market.

The speakers informed the participants that to improve access, quality, equity and relevance of TVET, the government of Pakistan had embarked upon a comprehensive reforms programme in 2011 with the support of international partners.

The second phase of the TVET Sector Support Programme had been launched in January 2017 with an overall objective to improve governance and private sector participation in the TVET sector to increase quality skills that could meet the demand of the labour market, they concluded.