DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The managing director of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (KP-Tevta), Mansoor Qaiser, said technical education institutions were being aligned with modern requirements in order to equip youth, particularly women, with market-relevant skills and enable them to become economically empowered.

He expressed these views while addressing a ceremony held at the Government Technical and Vocational Centre Mardana the other day.

Among those present on the occasion were Deputy Director Arshad Nadeem, Director Monitoring Tauqeer Hashmi, Principal of the centre Shujaat Ali, Principal of the Government College of Technology Dera Ismail Khan Malik Muhammad Javed and Principal of the Government Polytechnic Institute for Women Dera Ismail Khan Ms Bela Kundi, besides teachers and staff members.

Mr Qaiser said he had a strong personal connection with Dera Ismail Khan and had always tried to take practical steps to promote technical education in the region. He said special training programmes were being launched to equip women with professional skills so that they could play an effective role in supporting their families.

He added that the Government Polytechnic Institute for Women had already been granted the status of a centre of excellence and with the support of the British Council modern information technology disciplines would soon be introduced at the institution.

Mr Qaiser said that three new technical institutes for women had been approved in Tank, Prova and Paharpur through the efforts of former chief minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, providing additional opportunities for girls in these areas to obtain technical education.

He further said an agriculture farming department had been introduced at the Government Technical and Vocational Centre Mardana at a cost of around Rs60 million, while the required machinery had also been provided.

According to the managing director, new schemes worth Rs2.5 billion had been prepared to improve KP-TEVTA institutions across the province, under which modern machinery, equipment and computers would be supplied to bring the institutes in line with contemporary technology.

Earlier, Mr Qaiser inaugurated the RETP project. He also visited the institute and inspected the ongoing training programmes.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2026