He would sell gas balloons along Jhangi Wala Road in Bahawalpur city to make a living. Being a one-legged man, he could not move around easily. Therefore, he had placed his gas cylinder under a Sheesham tree along the road near his house.
His buyers were mostly schoolchildren, who would pass on the road to school. His daily earnings ranged between 50 to 75 rupees. His wife would also supplement his income by working as a housemaid in some homes of the colony. Thus they made ends meet, barely.
However, he and his wife wanted their children to get an education, who were studying in government schools. His eldest son, Muhammad Ashraf, got admission to the Government Vocational Training Institute, Bahawalpur, after matriculation. Muhammad Azeem’s neighbour, who was a proprietor of a fridge/AC repair centre, guided Ashraf to get admission to the vocational centre, and offered him training at his shop for free.
The boy would attend the vocational institute till noon and in the evening work at the shop. The shop owner was a kind person. As soon as Ashraf completed his two-year diploma course in refrigeration and air-conditioning, the shop owner requested his relative in Abu Dhabi to take him along. The passport fee was paid by him. And, finally, Ashraf reached Abu Dhabi as an AC mechanic two years back. He sends 25,000 rupees back home every month, making Muhammad Azeem’s family richer every passing month.
Now, Azeem tells every neighbour and every schoolchild, who comes to him, how much money his son earns every month. He also asks students and their parents that they should get a diploma in refrigeration and air-conditioning if they wanted to become “rich” in the shortest time. However, neither parents are convinced of Azeem’s suggestion nor are the students lucky enough that they go abroad to earn a “big money”.
But, Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema, executive director, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), says the process is as simple as stated by Muhammad Azeem. He says that technical and vocational education and training (TVET) can transform millions of lives in Pakistan.
Talking to Cutting Edge at a function in Islamabad, Mr. Cheema believes that vocational training is an effective tool for poverty reduction and for producing a skilled human resource for resource-constrained Pakistan. He says that marketable skills inculcated in the youth could lead Pakistan towards socio-economic progress.
The NAVTTC executive director says that Pakistan can exploit the potential of its growing young population only by equipping the boys and girls with employable skills, which are in demand in the domestic and international markets. Different duration of courses in various technical and vocational fields are being offered across the country, ranging from three months certificate courses to three years diploma in associate engineering (DAE).
Cheema says that one form of Matric-Tech Scheme, i.e., one optional technical subject against computer studies and biology is available in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and the federal capital area. Furthermore, options of Matric-Technical School Certificate in Sindh and customised training for industry in Punjab are also available.
Different institutions are involved in the curriculum development process with the aim to provide education in various technical and vocational fields for employment, self-employment and for further studies. These institutions include: TEVTA, Punjab; Centre for Curriculum Research and Development (CCRD) Sindh; Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Board of Technical Education; and Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE) and the Ministry of Labour and Manpower.
The National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE) is the approving authority for DAE curricula and vocational subjects at secondary school level. The three-year DAE curriculum is uniform throughout the country while all provinces maintain the uniformity of their vocational courses. Industry is often involved in the curriculum development and revision process. The federal government has recently established NAVTEC for making the uniform policies and restructuring of TVET in the country.
The NAVTTC executive director says that a number of initiatives have been undertaken, including launching of first-ever national TVET policy and the National Vocational and Qualification Framework (NVQF). A Competency Based Training (CBT) programme has been launched in more than 100 institutions with expected 20,000 pass-outs. The NAVTTC has also completed the accreditation of 586 TVET programmes and institutes to improve quality of TVET and create national standards. All these diverse approaches serve the purpose of employment, self-employment, and for further education, he explains.
The executive director says that training has been imparted to 8,500 teachers to improve pedagogical skills. A two-day skill and job mela was organised in Karachi on March 2-3, 2016, he shares with Cutting Edge.
However, Ainee Shehzad, a professional development instructor, doubts government claims that technical and vocational training to the youth is included in the government priorities. We would not have seen hundreds of thousands of educated unemployed youth in our country, had there been technical and vocational education/training on the government’s priority list.
Talking to Cutting Edge, she says that in today’s highly interconnected world, experiencing rapid technological changes, possession of skills by its workers, gives a country an edge over others. She believes that for surviving in this age of globalisation, it has become imperative for Pakistan to have a competent workforce.
Ainee holds a Master’s degree in education and international development from the University of London. She says that technical-vocational education (TVE) can be a tool for ensuring the supply of well-trained and efficient personnel for industry, thus acting as a catalyst for economic development.
Listing reasons for joblessness, Ms. Ainee says that graduates from the general side (non-TVE) of education do not get absorbed in the white-collar job market, leading to a very lopsided situation where excess supply leads to large-scale unemployment.
She is convinced of the importance of technical and vocational training. She says that another important link of TVE with development is that it can help combat child labour. TVE can provide the mineral and ore industry in Pakistan with suitably trained and skilled labour for an effective and economically viable utilisation of its natural resources like minerals and gas. Also, better agro-technical education resulting in better skilled and technologically competent farmers, will ensure rapid development for Pakistan’s agrarian economy, she adds:
Ainee regrets that there is a dearth of technically qualified and skilled people in the country to fulfil the demands of industry, particularly in the manufacturing sector. TVE can make a mark on the economic growth of Pakistan by improving the quality of labour through investment in human beings, i.e. by creating human capital.
She sees lack of a trained workforce as one of the reasons for slow, or no, progress in Pakistan. In the past, illiteracy, lack of training and the lack of an adequate infrastructure deprived the country of creating a substantial economic impact in the global market, she adds.
She says that low-skill labour has resulted in low wages that led to insufficiencies in the production chain, affecting exports and industries. An example of this is the value-added textile and garment industry where, despite being one of the largest producers of cotton, Pakistan has failed to make a mark because of poorly trained and low-skilled labour.
The professional instructor says that acquiring TVE-related skills also allows individuals to achieve a degree of self-employability. Besides, it can be an aid in the growth for the rural areas because industries wishing to set up factories or plants would find an easily accessible pool of skilled labour.
Ms. Ainee also finds TVE effective in empowering women. She says that the underprivileged and impoverished section of society, especially women in rural areas of Pakistan, can particularly benefit from TVE as there are various TVE schools for women that are playing an effective role in their uplift.
A research study conducted recently also endorses Ainee Shehzad’s concerns partially. The study found that except for three-year diploma of associate engineering programmes, all other options are not working satisfactorily. The efforts to integrate TVE with the secondary school general curriculum have remained unsuccessful except for in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), according to the study.
The study recommends that more concerted efforts are needed on the part of federal as well as provincial governments to improve technical and vocational education/ training in the country. Having a large population under 25 years of age, Pakistan has great potential to export skilled manpower to other countries to earn big foreign exchange, says the study.
Post a Comment