Vocational training: German delegation visits training institute

LAHORE:

A delegation from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) visited the Government Technical Training Institute Mughalpura on Saturday.

GTTI is a training facility of the Punjab Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority that delivers vocational training to the youth under the Germany Pakistan Training Initiative.

The delegation was led by Dr Stafen Oswald, the regional head of the BMZ for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He met with the trainers and trainees enrolled in training courses offered under GPATI.

GPATI is a new training approach aimed towards creating a demand-driven vocational education and training system in Pakistan. It is based on the German Dual Training System. The German system has been modified and developed into a model of cooperative training to match Pakistan’s need for a highly skilled workforce.

TEVTA introduced GPATI in Lahore in December last year, after it was started in Karachi in collaboration with national and multinational companies.

In Lahore, over 56 national and multinational companies are participating in the GPATI programme run by TVET Punjab. At the moment, 500 trainees are enrolled for different training programmes at three of the TEVTA training institutes. Half the training will take place at workplaces in companies.

TEVTA Chief Operating Officer Jawad Qureshi said he appreciated the support from European countries for technical and vocational education and training reform. He said the poor connections between industry and training delivery organisations was one of the major challenges in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2014.