By: Syed Shahzaib Haider
It is high time for the youth of this country to develop a useful technological-skill to be prepared to fight modern technological warfare. Unfortunately we are still discounting on one of the most essential factor in our economy. The obtainability of a highly skilled labour force has transformed the world. Every country is trying to improve the quality of their skilled labour by focusing on their technical institutions. Pakistan is also creating opportunities for the youth to cope up with the emerging technologies. TVET sector which is governed both at provincial and federal level is making an effort to create a difference. Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training sets larger policies and plans while the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) is designated as a regulatory body. In provinces, the Technical and Vocational Authority (TEVTA) is responsible for implementing these policies.
Programs such as Prompt Engineering, Data Analysis and visualization, Data Science, Cyber Security, Robotic Process Automation, Digital Marketing and Programing are some of the main courses we need to teach in the technical skill institutions made by the government of Pakistan. Stats claimed by NAVTTC says that Pakistan produces around 0.45 million of skilled workforce annually. But the number is not meeting the actual demand of the world which experts assume is around 0.9 million at present. These statistics shows a huge gap.
The difference in between the demand and the supply is the major factor which hinders economic growth of our country. It has been validated by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. The institute suggests that the rising unemployment in Pakistan leads to slow economic growth because of a structural mismatch in the labour market. Years ago Pakistan has introduced a TVET Policy 2018 named as “Skill for Growth and Development,” based on eight objectives for skill development. Years have passed since the introduction of the policy. But still the outreach and results of this very policy is commonly questioned.
NAVTTC is focusing on the National Skill Strategy (NSS), an action plan that provides the roadmap for skill development and plays a vital role in improving the performance of technical institutions. Increasing the number and quality of training may produce at least one million trained people annually. The number of enrolments in technical institutions is insufficient; the total annual supply of technical institutions is below one million. Private Public industrial groups like Sitara Group and Pakistan Steel have started their technical colleges, while some public technical institutions have also collaborated with industry. Whereas, some of the industrial representatives are now part of advisory committees in different institutions.
Government needs to focus on expanding the labour exports so that the remittances may help decreasing the deficits of our country. Institutional authorities should emphasis on standardizing training programs and they have to create a linkage between national and international market and the institutions so that more skilled people are hired for the right positions.
Though the Government of Pakistan has allocated Rs 1500 million in 2023-24, and the Asian Development Bank has given a 100-million-dollar loan for reforming the technical institutions, the result of which will trickle down slowly and show in the long term.
Majorly the young professionals are facing three problems that is making it more difficult for them to make a mark on the industry. The Database present on the websites of the institutions needs to be updates on regular basis and must be ranged with the relevant data science expert’s reports. Secondly, the mismatch between industrial requirements and the supply of skilled workforce due to ineffective partnerships between the TVET sector and the industrial sector of Pakistan is another challenge. Industries and technical institutions are not taking joint initiatives based on mutual commitments. Last but not the least a lack of fitting training measures and staff for delivering quality learning. Proper training standards are not available in technical institutions. It has been reported that these institutions lack a quality curriculum, and courses are not aligned with the required skills in the job market.
Government should develop a national database of skilled workforce. At the same time, Industries should be encouraged to run short-duration training programs. Technical institutions should involve industries in the design and delivery of programs. TVET sector and industries are not linked properly which is directly making impact on the economic viability and having an indirect impact on the national security of Pakistan. Our neighbor and an all-time strategic partner of Pakistan, China is heavily investing in technical institutions for industrial transformation. Thus, Pakistan should explore more opportunities in the job market for developing demand-driven training programs. We can improvise our performance in learning technical skills by implementing the same methods of China.
The writer is Director of the editorial board