KARACHI, April 18: Despite preparation of technical courses and the allocation of over Rs492 million to introduce technical and vocational education at the secondary level from the academic session 2003 in the country, no further initiative in this regard has been taken so far by the federal education ministry.

The objective behind introducing technical and vocational education is to expand options of employment for students who did not want to join pre-engineering, pre-medical or arts groups.

About the funds, an official of the education ministry said Rs492 million had been distributed among 34 districts of Punjab, 16 of Sindh, 22 of Balochistan and 24 districts of the NWFP.

At the initial stage, planners believed that technical and vocational training, the third stream of the present government’s educational priorities, would help solve the problem of unemployment in the country.

They were of the view that without any saleable skills, the high school graduates were unacceptable in the labour market, which aggravated the problem of unemployment.

Under the scheme, the existing polytechnic institutions in the public sector would be strengthened. The program suggested that evening classes for women in these institutions should be started and more such centres set up in each Tehsil.

The feasibility study for establishing such institutions was prepared by the experts, and the Islamic Development Bank had agreed to finance the project.

About 78 polytechnic institutions are already functioning in the country.

In addition to technical education, the plan also included revamping of science education in secondary schools. The government had also decided to establish computer laboratories in every public sector secondary and higher secondary school.—PPI