ISLAMABAD: After getting the membership of the World Skills Council (WSC), Pakistan has become a part of the world community in the field of technical and vocational education sector.

This was stated by National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) Executive Director Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema at a press conference a day before the annual skill competition to be held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Monday.

During the competitions, youth trained by NAVTTC will showcase their talents in 12 fields, including heavy machinery operating, auto-mechanics and cooking etc.

The champions of each trade will be awarded Rs100,000 each while the second position holders will get Rs75,000 and the third ones Rs50,000. Later, the winners will also receive prizes from the president of Pakistan. “Skill competitions have proved to be a game changer,” Mr Cheema said.

He said becoming a member of the WSC was a great achievement and would create tremendous employment opportunities for the graduates who would also participate in the world skills competitions.

Youth trained by National Vocational and Technical Training Commission to showcase their talent at PNCA

“This will help in strengthening our collaboration with the international community and we will be able to learn from the experiences and best practices of the developed countries,” he said.

The trained youth will also get benefit arising out from the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He said NAVTTC had already proposed the establishment of training institutes along the routes of CPEC.

An official of NAVTTC told Dawn that talks were underway with the government to set up six training centres along the CPEC routes. The official said NAVTTC’s trained heavy machinery operators would get handsome jobs in the CPEC projects.

“Some of our trained operators have already got jobs with a minimum salary package of Rs50,000” the official said.

Talking about the targets and challenges, Mr Cheema said during the last a few years they had taken steps to create awareness about the importance of skill development. Now we are receiving almost four times higher number of applications against the allotted seats, he added.

“Earlier NAVTTC trained 25,000 boys and girls annually and now the number has been increased to 100,000 per year,” he said.

He added that the quality of training had also increased. Moreover, the monitoring process has become effective.

“Old and outdated examination system is replaced with a modern method of assessment under which 90pc exam is based on practical tests. Moreover, out of three assessors, two belong to the industry. For the guidance of youth, job placement centres have been established in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi,” he said, adding collaboration with the industry was insignificant and steps were being taken to strengthen it.

“We do not have a dearth of skilled labourers. There are thousands of people who have learned skills informally but they do not have any certificates or proof for being considered as unskilled abroad. To bring these informal trained workers to the national economy, we have initiated a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) system under which thousands of skilled workers are being assessed in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad. They will be certified after passing the tests,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2017