Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
By: Khalida Khalid
Among the challenges that Pakistan is currently facing in the economic field, one of the major challenges is to provide employment to a large part of the population consisting of youth. The young generation is the capital of any nation and if proper opportunities are not available for it, this capital becomes a burden on the resources of any country and gives rise to many other problems. In the current situation, as Pakistan is facing difficulties in obtaining foreign exchange due to the decrease in exports and remittances sent by Pakistanis living abroad. This has made it more important that we need to focus on promoting technical education to provide alternative and better employment to our youth.
In this regard, the role of Punjab Vocational Training Council is very important, which is the way to send Pakistani youths who returned from abroad during the corona epidemic after giving them technical training with the support of German organization GZ. Smoothing. As a member of the Board of Governors of the Punjab Vocational Training Council, I myself had the opportunity to participate in a similar event in Faisalabad, in which 25 unemployed youths who had returned from abroad were given a six-month free AutoCAD course. Certificates were given after completion. It is worth mentioning here that 16 young people who completed the course have also got a new job during the course. In this way, these young people will not only be able to go abroad again and get a good job, but if they want to work in Pakistan, they will be able to earn two to two and a half times more than normal labor.
Halal meat and slaughter house business is another important sector for the youth who want to get job abroad after getting technical training. At present there is a dire need for skilled people working in the slaughterhouse business in Europe and America in connection with the supply of halal meat, but we do not have the facility to provide training in this sector. In order to meet this shortfall, I had also arranged a meeting of Naveed Iqbal, an important person of Pakistani origin associated with the slaughter house business in Europe, with Major Retired Shahnawaz Badr, chairman of the Punjab Vocational Training Council, so that technical training in this regard can also be done in Pakistan. Better job opportunities can be created abroad for the skilled youth. The good news in this regard is that the German company GIZE has already provided PVTC with a lab for training the manpower working in the slaughter house, in which classes can be started immediately. In this way, export of meat from Pakistan to foreign countries can be made possible by fulfilling the certification requirements according to international standards.
Despite the opportunities available for skilled people globally, we also have to admit that even now the technical education sector in Pakistan is facing several challenges.
According to an estimate, more than 30 lakh youths enter the job market every year, while the capacity of around 3500 technical and vocational education and training institutions across the country is limited to training five lakh people annually. In such a situation, it is necessary to improve the quality of education and training given in them along with increasing the capacity of these institutions. This will not only help to end the growing unemployment and frustration in the society but will also provide good employment to the youth. In this regard, trade officers posted in embassies can be given the task to identify specific trades for manpower preparation according to the needs of each country. The information obtained in this way should be shared with the technical training institutes so that they can ensure employment in the same trades by providing training to the youth according to international standards. In this way, not only the demand for Pakistan’s skilled people will increase globally, but Pakistan will also get a better alternative to earn foreign exchange.
In this regard, Pakistan needs to learn from developed countries like Japan and Germany, who focused on technical and vocational education after the Second World War and not only provided employment to their people, but also made their own country a leader in development. Made a conquered country. For this, there is a need to increase the budget of technical and vocational training institutions in Pakistan so that such institutions can be established in every part of the country. Similarly, there is an urgent need to increase the participation of women in the field of technical and vocational training. Apart from this, there is a need to increase the collaboration between technical education institutions and industry. This will not only make Pakistan economically stable, but it will also improve the quality of service delivery in various technical fields along with providing employment to people.
Published in The Balochistan Point on February 5, 2023
