Seminar: Improving vocational training for better job opportunities

Low level of skills linked to low productivity.

ISLAMABAD:

A seminar to promote vocational training institutes’ linkages with industry to improve employment prospects was held on Tuesday.

The plenary session of the national seminar on “Promoting Industry-Institute Linkages to improve the quality and relevance of technical education and vocational training” was focused on strengthening linkages, revival and promotion of apprenticeship programmes. The event also emphasised on the importance of learning on-the-job to support skill development.

Organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the seminar was part of its project “Empowering Vulnerable Groups through Education, Employment and Training.”

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Paul Comyn, senior vocational training and skill development specialist at ILO for South Asia and country office India, said as government programmes remain heavily focused on theoretical and traditional technologies and most institutes depend on government funds, commitment and coordination was the key to strengthening the core system.

“Pakistan faces a lot of challenges and a number of deficits.”

ILO’s concept of decent work needs to be implemented in Pakistan where workers are exploited.

There are blatant violations of human rights in cases of child labour which is a fundamental issue, he added.

A recent research by ILO in Sindh states that a major constraint on reducing poverty is the low level of education and skills in the labour force. This is also one of the principal causes for low productivity and employment creation in most sectors of the economy.

According to the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) progress report compiled by the government, Pakistan lags behind the set targets.

The government has recently made skills development a political priority and proposed to provide policy support to provincial governments.

The report also states that technical and vocational training is not sufficiently adapted to labour market requirements and only
covers a small proportion of skills.

The institutions further suffer from a lack of decentralised decision-making, high levels of bureaucracy, insufficient funding, low wages and low levels of staff motivation.

ILO’s project aims to support socio-economic development through investment in education and employment.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2013.