Technical education sidelined by government colleges

With rampant unemployment, youth seeking skills training have to pay hefty fee for private courses

Even as the Punjab government paints a positive picture of itself in the eyes of the youth by distributing laptops, the failure of the leaders to recognize the growing demand for technical education amidst an increasingly volatile job market, has disillusioned a large segment of the unemployed youth, who have no alternative means of earning an income.

In recent years, the soaring rate of unemployment has forced a growing number of young people to seek technical education after completing their matriculation, intermediate, bachelor's and even master's degrees. However, the unavailability of adequate government institutions offering courses on skill development and the unaffordability of costly private courses has doomed even the most ambitious youth to a life of unemployment and despondency.

According to records available with The Express Tribune, there are 581 small and big, public and private institutions offering technical education in Punjab, out of which 275 are private. In other words, barely 40 per cent of all technical education institutions are sponsored by the state. Since the past 20 years nearly all departments related to technical education have been closed in high schools, while computer teachers are working on the posts of technical education teachers.

Altaf Hussain, a student of technical education, revealed that there was a shortage of technical education at the government level. “There are neither any good workshops nor any qualified instructors in colleges. Although all the facilities of technical education are offered in the private sector, the registration fee is in lakhs, which the ordinary student cannot pay,” complained Hussain.

“Regrettably, technical education is not a priority of the government since the ruling party is only engaged in distributing laptops while no special subjects are taught in schools and colleges regarding technical education. When the government recruits skilled teachers of technical education in schools and colleges, only then can unemployment be eliminated,” said the Punjab Teachers Association Secretary, Rana Liaquat Ali.

Similarly, Secretary Punjab Civil Secretariat Employees Association Chaudhry Ghulam Ghaus confirmed that even students with a large variety of degrees were unable to get jobs since they lacked training in skills, which are taught through technical education. “Therefore, the government should focus on imparting technical education in schools and colleges,” suggested Ghaus.

Habibullah Mujahid, a senior subject specialist at a government high school, recalled that in earlier times, due to the inclusion of technical education in the first curriculum, children used to learn many skills in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, allowing them to fix the wiring and wooden works in their house. Therefore, after finishing school, students could transition into practical life and become an artisan within six months to a year. “Now, due to innovations in technology, computer education is also necessary. Pakistan is an agricultural country, where 65 to 70 per cent of the population needs modern agricultural education. Since this is not offered, the country has become a victim of food crises,” said Mujahid.

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Hassan Murtaza Shirazi urged the Punjab government to upgrade technical education in schools instead of giving laptops to the youth. “This will at least help children learn technical education along with computers and they will be able to make their school, home and province proud in the field of IT. Agricultural plots of schools in rural areas dedicated for technical education during the Bhutto era, have now become barren. The government should take steps to make these workshops usable,” suggested Shirazi.

On the other hand, Provincial Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat assured that the government was working to promote technical education in subjects like electrical wiring, iron, wood, agriculture, and fashion.