After PM’s nod, NTB to be absorbed in NVTEC

Education ministry official says act of parliament required for merging constitutional body

After news reports pointed out an error, the federal education ministry on Tuesday issued an amended notice which stated that the national training bureau was being merged with the national vocational body following approval from the prime minister.

The issue arose when a news report was published by the Daily Express on November 26 which pointed out that the education ministry was merging the National Training Bureau (NTB) into the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NVTEC) after the move had been approved by the federal cabinet.



In fact, the cabinet had never approved the merger. Moreover, since they are constitutional bodies, the parliament must act to either approve a merger or abolish the body altogether.

Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of the matter and directed the education ministry to issue a corrected notice. This notice was subsequently issued on November 30.

The corrected notice said that the amalgamation of the two bodies was being carried out in light of a decision made by the prime minister and the federal cabinet in its May 29, 2018, meeting bearing case number CCLC-70/11/2018.

According to documents available with Daily Express, the National Training Bureau (NTB) was initially created as the National Training Board in 1980 after securing formal approval from the parliament.

The cabinet committee for disposal of legislative cases (CCLC) deliberated over a summary from the federal education ministry and ruled that following a minor amendment in the relevant acts, the NTB should be merged into NVTEC.

Once merged, all of NTB’s authority, duties, and assets (movable and immovable) would be handed over to NVTEC.

Sources said that that deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif had also amended the NVTEC Act 2011 while he had issued an advice to obtain permission from the parliament to repeal the Training Ordinance 1980 (revised in 2002).

An official of the federal education ministry with knowledge of the matter said that the parliament’s approval was imperative for merging NTB into NVTEC, however, the federal education ministry had issued a notification with the PM’s permission.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2018.