By: Syed Shahzaib Haider
It is high time for the youth of this country to develop useful technological skills to be prepared to fight modern technological warfare. Unfortunately, we are still discounting on one of the most essential factor in our economy. The availability of a highly skilled labour force has transformed the world. Every country is trying to improve the quality of its skilled labour by focusing on its technical institutions. Pakistan is also creating opportunities for the youth to keep up with the emerging technologies. The TVET sector, which is governed both at the provincial and federal levels, is making an effort to create a difference. The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training sets larger policies and plans, while the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) is designated as a regulatory body. The Technical and Vocational Authority (TEVTA) is responsible for implementing these policies in provinces.
Programs such as Prompt Engineering, Data Analysis and visualization, Data Science, Cyber Security, Robotic Process Automation, Digital Marketing, and Programming are some of the main courses we need to teach in the technical skill institutions made by the government of Pakistan. Stats claimed by NAVTTC say that Pakistan produces around 0.45 million skilled workforce annually. But the number is not meeting the actual demand of the world, which experts assume is around 0.9 million at present. These statistics show a huge gap.
The difference between the demand and the supply is the major factor that hinders the economic growth of our country. It has been validated by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. The institute suggests that the rising unemployment in Pakistan leads to slow economic growth because of a structural mismatch in the labour market. Years ago, Pakistan introduced a TVET Policy 2018 named “Skill for Growth and Development,” based on eight objectives for skill development. Years have passed since the introduction of the policy. But still, the outreach and results of this very policy are commonly questioned.
NAVTTC is focusing on the National Skill Strategy (NSS), an action plan that provides the roadmap for skill development and plays a vital role in improving the performance of technical institutions. Increasing the number and quality of training may produce at least one million trained people annually. The number of enrolments in technical institutions is insufficient; the total annual supply of technical institutions is below one million. Private and Public industrial groups like Sitara Group and Pakistan Steel have started their technical colleges, while some public technical institutions have also collaborated with industry. Whereas, some of the industrial representatives are now part of advisory committees in different institutions.
The government needs to focus on expanding the labour exports so that the remittances may help decrease the deficits of our country. Institutional authorities should emphasize standardizing training programs, and they have to create a linkage between national and international markets and the institutions, so that more skilled people are hired for the right positions.
Though the Government of Pakistan has allocated Rs 1500 million in 2023-24, and the Asian Development Bank has given a 100-million-dollar loan for reforming the technical institutions, the result of which will trickle down slowly and show in the long term.
Majorly, the young professionals are facing three problems that are making it more difficult for them to make a mark on the industry. The Database present on the websites of the institutions needs to be updated on a regular basis and must be aligned with the relevant data science expert’s reports. Secondly, the mismatch between industrial requirements and the supply of skilled workforce due to ineffective partnerships between the TVET sector and the industrial sector of Pakistan is another challenge. Industries and technical institutions are not taking joint initiatives based on mutual commitments. Last but not least a lack of fitting training measures and staff for delivering quality learning. Proper training standards are not available in technical institutions. It has been reported that these institutions lack a quality curriculum, and courses are not aligned with the required skills in the job market.
The government should develop a national database of the skilled workforce. At the same time, Industries should be encouraged to run short-duration training programs. Technical institutions should involve industries in the design and delivery of programs. The TVET sector and industries are not linked properly, which is directly making an impact on the economic viability and having an indirect impact on the national security of Pakistan. Our neighbor and an all-time strategic partner of Pakistan, China, is heavily investing in technical institutions for industrial transformation. Thus, Pakistan should explore more opportunities in the job market for developing demand-driven training programs. We can improve our performance in learning technical skills by implementing the same methods as China.
The writer serves as the head of the editorial team at The Dayspring
