ISLAMABAD:
Pakistanis are increasingly finding it difficult to compete in the international market of skilled labourers as workers from India, Sri Lanka and Nepal continue to replace the country’s workforce on the basis of a better skill set.
“Pakistani labourers failed to match the standards of skilled workers worldwide,” observed Senate’s Standing Committee on Professional and Technical Training Chairman Senator Abdul Nabi Bangash during a meeting on Monday.
“Labourers from other South Asian countries, holding technical certificates from certified institutes, have surpassed the country’s skilled professionals,” he added.
It was noted that vocational training institutes in rural areas have been totally non-functional to address the weaknesses in this regard.
Skilled workers from the Philippines, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka continue to displace Pakistani labourers, which is a remarkable turnaround since Pakistani labourers used to dominate the market in the region as well as the Gulf in the past decade.
The recent cut in funds of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) also came under discussion and the panel urged HEC’s linking with the ministry for parliamentary business and interaction. The committee expressed its disquiet over the delay in release of funds to the HEC which had stalled the remuneration of employees, unanimously recommending that immediate steps be taken to address the matter.
Recognising the importance of education for the future of Pakistan, Bangash said that the only way to defeat terrorism was through imparting education to the masses.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2012.
COMMENTS (8)
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Blame the mulla, the pakistani economy survives on money sent back home by foreign workers, when this comes to end pakistan will default on every loan it has taken out since its existence. The mullahs have ensured that western countries are already stopping pakistanis travelling there for work or education and our muslim countries will eventually follow suit or have a section for us on our passports where we need to declare we are not terrorists, how ironic
There must be some reputable institution in country that certify local labour, this will certainly increase the job prospects of our labour abroad. It is high time for senate committee to demand such institute now as we have already waste decades owing to corrupt systems.
When a child learns b for bandook and j for jihad, what does one expect?
In photo too, no labourer is wearing safety shoes. No employer in his right mind would hire them. Pakistani labourers are mosty illeterate, unskilled, expensive, unsafe and work only when they are forced to do so.
risk of employing a pakistani ( either doctor or engineer or skilled technician or labourer or scientists ) is they are obsessed with too much of religion... observe the comments section of pakistani newspapers
@Vikas: Your are not aware about the framing as it also need the education for the better farming practices and also to select better and competative crops for your fields to compete in the market and also doing some other business like dairy farming ,and also doing agri related business like Live Stock
... which is a remarkable turnaround since Pakistani labourers used to dominate the market in the region as well as the Gulf in the past decade. Which is this region and which is the market? Strange article - starts off with skilled workforce, suddenly jumps to labourers, then brings in the higher education commission. Who exactly are we talking about?
Why you guys need education? Who will do the farming and other jobs?