ISLAMABAD, Oct 3 (APP): Minister of State for Federal
Education and Professional Training, Muhammad Balighur Rehman, Monday said the present government was determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and extremism completely from the country with its prudent policies.
The incidents of terrorism had decreased substantially
across the country and now the improved law and order situation would prove as catalyst to the country’s financial and industrial growth vis a vis boosting the economic activities, he said.
The minister was addressing the inaugural session of two
day, International TVET Conference Pakistan 2016’ arranged by National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC).
Balighur Rehman said the law and order situation was also
improving in Karachi which was the hub of economic activity and gateway to Pakistan’s economy.
About the energy situation, he said the country would be able to meet all its energy needs till 2018 through the viable energy projects using wind, hydel, solar and other means of energy.
The policy of zero power outages for the industrial sector
would also help improve the industry, he said adding the duration of overall power outages had been reduced in the country.
He said youth was over 60% percent of the total population of the country and it was high time to invest more in their educational needs and vocational and technical training, utilizing their energies in constructive way.
Terming education as a key to prevent from all the ills, he
said the government had increased the budgetary allocations for education from Rs 500 billion in the year 2012 13 to Rs 800 billion in the year 2016 17.
While for Higher Education Commission (HEC), the government had increased the allocations from Rs 41 billion in the year 2012 13 upto Rs 91 billion in the year 2016 17.
He said greater investment in human capital only can help
boost confidence and self esteem of our younger generation.
Education was now a devolved subject but still the federal
government was carrying out efforts to bring improvements in this sector, Balighur Rehman said.
The government had reactivated the forum of Inter Provincial Ministerial Conference (IPMC), National Skills Information System (NSIS), Skills Development Councils (SDC) and National Training Bureau.
The minister stressed the need to establish more technical and vocational centers in the country, expanding the span of TVET sector, the minister said.
The new Apprenticeship Act, he said, had been approved and
would be forwarded to the cabinet soon. The act would provide more opportunities to the youth to get training in their respective trade at work place, he added.
Addressing the audience, Executive Director National
Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema said the government was paying special attention to provide technical training to youth so they could adopt successful careers in the country and abroad.
Zulfiqar Cheema said NAVTTC was pursuing its target of
equipping 50,000 youth with technical and vocational training in different trades this year.
A job portal created by NAVTTC was helping youth in getting
access to links to around 200 to 250 different jobs daily, he added.
He said job centres would be set up at provincial and
divisional levels for better placement of skilled and trained persons in the public and private sectors. A similar centre was working at its headquarters in Islamabad.
Special desks would be formed at these centres to collect data of youth and guide them in getting jobs.
In this connection, NAVTCC had also entered into agreements with different online companies, he informed.
He briefly narrated reform measures and initiatives taken by
NAVTTC while highlighting importance of the international
conference.
He said different countries have excelled in different sectors
and they should learn from experiences of each other.
He was of the view that sharing of information would go a long way to improve not only the quality of training but the chances of employability of our youth in the international market.
He said skill development is the master key for poverty
alleviation and it is the gateway to peace and prosperity.
German ambassador to Pakistan Ina Lepel, while addressing the TVET Conference said they would continue supporting the TVET reform system in Pakistan.
She appreciated the steps taken by NAVTTC for revival of TVET in Pakistan.
Mayor of Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz said NAVTTC was making strides in capacity building and capacity expansion programs for the youth to bring reforms in the current TVET system in Pakistan.
He said that this conference will be instrumental in
identifying the issues related to provision of technical vocational education and the measures needed to address them.
NAVTTC had trained around 225,000 young men and women so far and currently 50,000 trainees were being trained annually in over 60 trades in 130 technical and vocational institutes across the country, under Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Development Phase III.
The conference was attended by a large number of
industrialists, heads of training institutes, ambassadors, diplomats and the delegates of more than 15 countries including China, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Turkey, South Korea, Belarus, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan.
